US aircraft departing from Finland enters Russian airspace

Just before the U.S. delegation's subsequent visit to Russia and Ukraine, Russia conducted an airstrike on the airport in Kiev, the capital of Ukraine.

On the 5th (local time), Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said, "There were protest airstrikes by Russia on the airports in Kiev and Boryspil, Ukraine overnight," adding, "It was a long-time, deliberate airstrike."

President Zelensky said that Russia appears to have targeted the possibility of the U.S. delegation landing at Kiev or Boryspil Airport when visiting Ukraine, and that Russia used Iranian-made Shahed drones in this attack.

U.S. President Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff and President Trump's eldest son-in-law Jared Kushner are expected to visit Moscow first on this day and meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin before moving to Kiev on the 6th to meet President Zelenskyy. The day before, President Zelenskyy had announced that he would ensure the normal operation of Russian airspace in accordance with their visit.

According to TASS and RIA Novosti news agencies, a U.S. government C-32A aircraft that took off from Finland entered Russian airspace at around 11:40 a.m. on this day. It is highly likely that Special Envoy Wittkoff and Kushner were on board this plane.

On this day, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov responded to a question about the U.S. delegation's schedule, saying, "What matters is how much the U.S. administration is willing to invest in finding a practical solution to the current crisis, taking into account various factors, including the local situation."

He emphasized, “Not only the root cause (of the conflict) must be considered, but also the situation that continues to change unfavorably for Kiiu.”

Deputy Minister Ryabkov pointed out, “Looking at the situation that developed after the Anchorage summit (between the U.S. and Russia), there are many questions about whether the U.S. can reasonably approach the various issues that need to be resolved and not fall prey to the machinations of sabotaging forces.”

This visit is noteworthy in that it takes place 10 days after John Ratcliffe, Director of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), visited Moscow and met with heads of Russian intelligence agencies on the 26th of last month.

The day before, President Trump said that special envoys Witkoff and Kushner were planning to present a new peace agreement to Russia and Ukraine, and that "there may be a good chance we can do it."

However, according to a Bloomberg News report on this day, Russian Kremlin officials said that they had low expectations for this schedule and that "there was no progress in previous visits, and there is no reason to believe that this time will bring an acceptable proposal."