US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner arrived in Moscow on Saturday in an attempt to revive faltering efforts aimed at ending the war in Ukraine. The official Russian TASS news agency reported that Witkov and Kushner were received by Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev at the airport.
Dmitriev posted pictures of himself meeting the American delegation, which includes Witkov and Kushner, as they got off the plane, and commented on them, saying: “Welcome to Moscow, peacemakers.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky denounced the Russian strikes that targeted the two airports of the Ukrainian capital on Friday-Saturday night, considering them an attempt to obstruct the expected visit of US President Donald Trump’s envoys to Kiev on Sunday.
Zelensky said, via the Telegram application: “It is clear that these Russian strikes on airports represent a response to discussions and preparations related to the possibility of the American side using a plane to travel to Ukraine and land at Kiev Airport or Boryspil Airport.”
Zelensky added that Ukraine would stop its air attacks on Moscow during the envoys' visit, calling on Moscow to take the same step.
Zelensky said, in a post on social media, on Saturday, that Russia carried out strikes on Kiev and its airports at night. He added: “It is clear that these Russian strikes are a reaction to discussions and preparations for the possibility of the American side using a plane to reach Ukraine.”
Zelensky continued in another post: “We have noticed the Russian behavior, and we will adjust our operations next week accordingly, with regard to Russian airspace, which has become dangerous due to our drones and missiles in the sky. Of course, there are no, and will not be, any threats to diplomacy on our part.”
In turn, the Kremlin announced that Russian President Vladimir Putin issued an order not to launch any raids on Kiev for a period of 3 days, starting at midnight. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the Russian TASS news agency on Saturday that Putin had issued an order to stop air strikes on Kiev for 72 hours, according to the Associated Press.
Peskov added: “Putin ordered not to launch any air strikes on Kiev for 3 days, starting at midnight tonight.” He added that the decision is related to preparations for the visit of American envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, to Kiev for talks.
Sources close to the Kremlin said that expectations regarding the visit are very low, according to Bloomberg. She added that previous visits by Witkopf and Kushner had not achieved any progress, and that there was no reason to believe that they would present acceptable proposals.
On Saturday, Peskov warned against taking preconceived positions before listening to American proposals, calling for waiting until Putin's meeting with Witkov and Kushner.
The sources said - on condition of anonymity because they were discussing sensitive issues - that Putin is ready to stop the war according to his terms, and that Moscow's demands are becoming more stringent, because it believes that it enjoys military superiority over Ukraine.
Informed sources in Kiev said that Ukraine is also pessimistic about achieving meaningful progress regarding the visit of Witkov and Kushner.
The US President told reporters that the negotiators would seek to study the possibility of making progress towards peace, but he refrained from revealing whether the plan included Ukraine giving up territory, as he had previously indicated, but he said: “We have an idea for peace.”
TASS news agency quoted Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov as saying, on Saturday, that the US administration must take into account the reality on the ground in any settlement of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, indicating that the situation is not going in Kiev’s interest.
Ryabkov told the agency: “The main question is the extent of the US administration’s willingness to make efforts to search for a real solution to the current crisis, taking into account the reality on the ground.”
At the field level, the confrontation lines have remained largely stable, as Russia is making only gradual gains in its efforts to extend its full control over the Ukrainian Donbass region.
The last known visit of Wytkov and Kushner to Moscow was in January, when they met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin.
Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev told Reuters in June that he remained in contact with American negotiators during a break from visiting Russia. Dmitriev participated in all of their previous meetings with President Vladimir Putin, and also played a role in negotiating exemptions from US sanctions on Russian oil this year.
US President Donald Trump hinted on Friday that the United States has a new, concrete proposal aimed at ending the war, which has entered its fifth year, without revealing its details.
Trump added to reporters: “We sent them to see if we could get something done or not.” As with previous US mediation efforts, Trump expressed optimism that progress could be made, although little progress has been achieved so far. The visit comes at a time when both sides have escalated their air attacks against each other.
There are still huge differences between Russia and Ukraine over ways to end the war, which is considered the deadliest in Europe since World War II.
The Kremlin said on Friday that Putin's position, which he put forward in a speech two years ago - that Ukraine should cede the entire territory of the four regions claimed by Russia and abandon its efforts to join NATO - remains "steadfast."
Since the Russian invasion in February 2022, Ukrainian airspace has remained closed. But Zelensky said that officials discussed the possibility of US peace envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner arriving by air during their expected visit to Kiev on Sunday.
On Friday, a Russian drone bombed the headquarters of the Ukrainian Security Service, one of the most important government buildings in Kiev. The agency participates, among other agencies, in carrying out operations deep inside Russia.
The recent Russian attacks resulted in the death of 5 people and the injury of 5 others in an industrial facility in the Dnepropetrovsk region, southern Ukraine, according to the head of the local military administration, Oleksandr Hansa. He added that a 62-year-old man was also injured, while private homes and an apartment building were damaged in a separate attack in the Nikopol district of the region.
Interfax news agency quoted the Russian Defense Ministry as saying, on Saturday, that Russian forces launched strikes on two ships transporting bulk goods and a container ship in the port of Chornomorsk, in addition to another ship transporting bulk goods near Odessa.
The ministry stated that these ships are used to transport military cargo to the Ukrainian Armed Forces. The ministry said, in a statement on Saturday, that it also carried out strikes on two mining factories in the region, describing them as “major suppliers of metal products needed for Ukrainian military production.”
