Putin orders 3-day halt in Kyiv strikes as Trump envoys arrive in Moscow

Moscow: Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered a three-day halt in Russian strikes on Kyiv beginning at midnight Saturday, the Kremlin said, as US President Donald Trump's envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner arrived in Moscow in a fresh push to revive peace talks between Russia and Ukraine.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin had ordered Russian forces not to strike the Ukrainian capital for three days. The pause comes as Witkoff and Kushner prepare to travel to Kyiv after their meetings in Moscow, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy expecting the US delegation in the capital on Sunday.

The move follows a Ukrainian proposal for both sides to suspend air attacks during the envoys' visit, amid renewed Russian and Ukrainian strikes across the region.

Putin orders three-day pause in Kyiv strikes

Peskov said Putin, who is also Russia's commander-in-chief, had ordered a halt to strikes on Kyiv for three days from midnight Saturday.

The Kremlin's announcement came as the two US envoys arrived in Moscow for talks aimed at breaking a diplomatic deadlock that has stalled efforts to end the war.

The temporary pause is specifically focused on Kyiv, where Russian attacks have intensified in recent days. It coincides with the planned movement of the US delegation from Moscow to the Ukrainian capital.

Trump envoys arrive in Moscow

Witkoff and Kushner arrived in Moscow on Saturday as part of Washington's latest diplomatic effort to find a way to end Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Russian presidential envoy Kirill Dmitriev met the two US representatives at the airport. He later shared photographs of the meeting and welcomed them as “Moscow Peacemakers”.

Witkoff and Kushner are expected to travel to Kyiv after their Moscow meetings. The two have not previously visited the Ukrainian capital, although they met Putin during their earlier visit to Moscow in January.

Their latest mission follows Trump's statement on Friday that the US had an idea for peace and that his envoys had been sent to assess whether progress could be made.

“We have an idea for peace,” Trump said.

He described Witkoff and Kushner as negotiators who had done a good job and said there could be a good chance of reaching an agreement.
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Zelenskyy had asked Russia to halt air strikes

The latest Kremlin announcement follows a request from Zelenskyy for Russia to suspend air attacks while the US delegation travels to Ukraine.

Zelenskyy said Ukraine would ensure that there were no air strikes from its side during the visit and urged Moscow to do the same.

The Ukrainian president had also said Russia's overnight strikes on Kyiv and Boryspil international airports appeared to be linked to preparations for a possible US aircraft carrying the negotiators.

Ukraine has kept its airspace closed since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022. Zelenskyy said officials had discussed the possibility of the US envoys travelling by air and landing at Kyiv or Boryspil.

Russia had struck Kyiv airports

Zelenskyy said Russia carried out overnight strikes on airports in Kyiv and nearby Boryspil ahead of the expected US visit.

He linked the attacks to preparations for the possible arrival of the American delegation by aircraft.

The strikes came after Russia intensified its attacks on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities, with bombardments increasingly extending into daylight hours.

On Friday, a Russian drone also struck the headquarters of Ukraine's Security Service, or SBU, in Kyiv. The agency is involved in Ukraine's operations against Russian targets.

Heavy fighting continues elsewhere

Despite the diplomatic push, fighting has continued across Ukraine.

Russian attacks killed five people and wounded five others at an industrial facility in Ukraine's southern Dnipropetrovsk region, according to local officials. Other attacks in the region damaged homes and residential buildings.

In the Kyiv region, two people were wounded in an overnight Russian attack, while a fire caused by a strike partially destroyed a nine-storey residential building in the Boryspil district.

Russian drones also struck a shopping centre in the southern Mykolaiv region, injuring a 72-year-old man and a 17-year-old girl, Ukrainian emergency authorities said.

Ukraine's air force said Russia launched ballistic missiles and 167 attack drones overnight, including Shahed-type drones, while Russian authorities said their forces had shot down 53 Ukrainian drones.
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Fresh attempt to revive Ukraine peace talks

The latest US diplomatic mission comes as efforts to end the war have lost momentum.

The conflict is now in its fifth year, with Russia and Ukraine continuing long-range missile and drone attacks while making limited progress along the roughly 1,250-kilometre front line.

Washington's peace push had also lost momentum as US attention was focused on its war with Iran over the past six months.

The arrival of Witkoff and Kushner in Moscow, followed by their expected visit to Kyiv, marks a renewed attempt by the Trump administration to engage both sides directly.

The Kremlin's three-day halt in strikes on Kyiv could provide a window for those diplomatic efforts to proceed, although fighting elsewhere and the broader military confrontation between Russia and Ukraine continue.

For now, the key test will be whether the temporary pause and the US envoys' meetings can translate into substantive progress towards negotiations to end the war.