Russian President Vladimir Putin met on Saturday with an American delegation in Moscow for three hours, according to Russian official media, at a time when Washington renewed its efforts to end the war in Ukraine.
The Kremlin released a video showing Steve Witkoff, President Donald Trump's special envoy, and Jared Kushner, the president's son-in-law, meeting with Putin in the Kremlin.
Kremlin official Yuri Ushakov described the talks as “productive” and said that Witkov and Kushner promised to use “the feedback and assessments they personally received from the Russian president” during their talks with the Ukrainian president on Sunday.
CNN has reached out to the White House and State Department for details about Saturday's meeting.
Putin welcomed the delegation, acknowledged the difficulty of the talks, and thanked US President Trump.
The Russian President said: “The situation we have to work on today is not easy, of course. But before we begin, I would like to ask you to convey my best wishes, and a word of thanks, to the President of the United States, Mr. Trump.”
Witkopf and Kushner made several visits to Moscow during the war, but are scheduled to travel to Kiev for the first time on Sunday, where they will hold talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Putin ordered a halt to Russian attacks on Kiev for three days, coinciding with the visit of the American delegation to Ukraine.
He said that the truce took effect at midnight, and noted that Ukraine had significantly reduced its strikes on Russia, including Moscow.
He also stressed that the two sides had not agreed to a broader ceasefire: “The Ukrainian authorities issued their own call for a broader three-day truce, but we never agreed with them on that.”
Putin also pledged to do everything in his power to protect the negotiation process and the American mediators, while Witkov spoke in a friendly tone, telling Putin: “When we retire, we will have all these wonderful stories and memories, and your story will be at the forefront of them.”
Russian Presidential Assistant Yuri Ushakov, and Kirill Dmitriev, head of Russia's sovereign wealth fund and the Kremlin's special envoy, also participated in the talks.
Zelensky said that he spoke with Witkov and Kushner on Saturday, and that Ukraine is ready to stop strikes on Moscow until Monday.
The Ukrainian president said in a post on the X website: “I just spoke with the US President’s envoys. They have already started working with the Russian side today. From now until the end of Saturday, as well as Sunday and Monday, Ukraine is ready to refrain from directing strikes against Moscow, and we expect the Russians to do the same with regard to Kiev.”
Zelensky also said: “We are waiting for Steve Witkopf and Jared Kushner, and we are ready for a substantive conversation.”
Strikes on airports in Kyiv
Zelensky had said earlier on Saturday that Russian missiles targeted two airports near Kiev, one of which was Boryspil Airport, which was receiving international flights before the war.
He added: "It is clear that these Russian strikes on airports are a reaction to discussions and preparations related to the possibility of the American side using an aircraft to reach Ukraine."
Since the start of the war, visiting foreign leaders have been traveling to Kiev by train from Poland. It is still unclear whether the announced Russian strikes will affect the US delegation's plans.
The American visit to Kiev comes in light of almost continuous Russian missile and drone attacks on the Ukrainian capital, including direct targeting, on Friday, of the headquarters of the Ukrainian Security Service.
Zelensky has stated that a severe shortage of defensive interceptors has made Ukraine vulnerable to ballistic missile attacks.
In statements on Friday at the White House, Trump described Witkoff and Kushner as “brilliant negotiators.”
He said: "They carry with them a proposal to end the war... There may be a good chance of achieving this."
As for the Kremlin, it was less optimistic.
"Trump himself announced yesterday that there is no talk of new ideas. That was a statement from the American president," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in response to a question about whether American mediators had new proposals to end the war.
"Reality on the ground"
Russian officials noted that Moscow's position has not changed.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told the official Russian TASS agency: “The American administration must take into account the reality on the ground regarding the settlement of the Ukrainian crisis, as the situation is changing not in Kiev’s favor.”
A series of important industrial cities in the eastern Donetsk region are under increasing threat as Russian forces gradually advance in recent months.
Russian raids continued in other regions of Ukraine Friday night into Saturday, including missile attacks on Black Sea ports and a factory in the central Dnepropetrovsk region.
