Witkoff and Kushner Meet Putin in Moscow as Kremlin Halts Kyiv Strikes for 72 Hours

Moscow first, Kyiv next

Since their planned trip to Kyiv stalled Thursday over unresolved security guarantees, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner have rerouted through Moscow instead. The two envoys landed at Vnukovo Airport Saturday, according to Russia's Tass news agency, and were greeted by Russian presidential envoy Kirill Dmitriev, who posted photos captioned "Welcome to Moscow Peacemakers."

A motorcade carrying Witkoff, Kushner and Dmitriev left the airport for the Kremlin Saturday afternoon local time, Al Jazeera reported. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Tass that Vladimir Putin would meet with the envoys later that day. It would be their first Kremlin meeting with Putin since January, according to CBS News and NPR.

Kyiv is still on the itinerary. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the envoys are expected in the Ukrainian capital Sunday, a trip that would mark Witkoff and Kushner's first-ever visit to Ukraine since Trump took office pledging to end the war.

A three-day pause, but not everywhere

Peskov told Tass that Putin ordered a halt to strikes on Kyiv for 72 hours starting at midnight Saturday, tied directly to the envoys' planned visit. Zelensky separately said Ukraine's military was ordered to cease fire for three days starting at midnight, according to Ukrainian outlet Ukrainska Pravda, cited by Al Jazeera.

The pause is narrow. Russian attacks continued elsewhere in Ukraine even as the ceasefire order took effect. Russia struck an industrial facility in Kamianske, in the Dnipropetrovsk region, killing five people and injuring five more, according to regional governor Oleksandr Hanzha as reported by Al Jazeera. Ukraine's air force said Russia launched 167 attack drones and ballistic missiles overnight, hitting shopping centers and residential areas across several regions, according to The Independent.

Zelensky also accused Russia of striking Kyiv's two airports, Boryspil and the capital's main civilian airport, overnight Friday into Saturday, calling the timing no coincidence. "Clearly, these Russian strikes on the airports are a reaction to the discussions and preparations for the possibility of the U.S. side using an aircraft to travel to Ukraine," he said, according to the BBC. He added that Ukraine would "adjust our operation accordingly" regarding Russian airspace the following week, while insisting there would be "no threats to diplomacy from our side."

A day earlier, a Russian drone struck the headquarters of Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) in central Kyiv, the first hit on that building since the 2022 invasion began, according to CBS News. Zelensky said the strike targeted the office of the agency's acting chief and has vowed to retaliate.

Trump told reporters Friday he had sent Witkoff and Kushner with a fresh proposal. "I sent Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, two great negotiators. They've done a great job, and we sent them over to see whether or not we can get something done. And there may be a good chance that we'll do it," Trump said, according to CBS News. He gave no specifics.

The Financial Times, cited by Crypto Briefing, reported the proposal reportedly touches on territorial concessions and military limitations, suggesting a substantive negotiation rather than a symbolic gesture. But The Guardian reported that as of Friday, the Kremlin was still holding to Putin's long-standing demand that Ukraine surrender four claimed regions and abandon any NATO bid, terms Kyiv has called intolerable.

Russia's deputy foreign minister, Sergei Ryabkov, added a pointed caveat ahead of the talks. "The key question is the extent to which the US administration is prepared to invest in finding a real solution to the current crisis, considering the realities on the ground," Ryabkov said, according to Tass as reported by The Independent, adding that the battlefield situation was not developing in Ukraine's favor.

Separately from the ceasefire talks, the International Atomic Energy Agency brokered a local pause to allow repairs restoring external power to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, which has run on emergency diesel generators since August 20, according to Al Jazeera. Whether Witkoff and Kushner can get Zelensky to engage with a Kremlin position Kyiv has already rejected, and whether Putin extends any pause beyond Kyiv to the rest of Ukraine, remain open questions neither side has answered.