Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a cessation of strikes on Kiev for three days, starting at midnight on Saturday, coinciding with a tour conducted by US President Donald Trump's envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, between Moscow and the Ukrainian capital, in the latest American effort to end the war.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the official Russian TASS agency that the decision is related to "preparing for the contacts that the Americans will conduct in Kiev."
The announcement came after Witkov and Kushner arrived in Moscow on Saturday to hold talks with Putin, before moving to Kiev to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Trump told reporters that the two envoys carried a “proposal to end the war,” without revealing its details.
Pictures broadcast by Russian media showed Witkov and Kushner arriving at Vnukovo Airport in Moscow, where they were received by Russian negotiator Kirill Dmitriev. Flight tracking data indicated that a US government plane transported them from Helsinki to the Russian capital, after they arrived in Finland from the United States.
The two envoys have previously visited Moscow several times since Trump's return to the White House, but their move to Kiev will be the first. During the past eighteen months, Ukrainian delegations participated in negotiating rounds hosted by the United States, but American efforts have not yet led to an agreement between Moscow and Kiev.
Strikes precede Putin's decision
Putin's decision comes in the midst of a tug of war over a ceasefire proposed by Ukraine along the front line, coinciding with the US envoys' tour.
Peskov confirmed that Moscow had received notification of the initiative, saying that "this information had already been provided by the Ukrainian side." But Kiev accused Russian forces of not adhering to the ceasefire, and indicated that their attacks would continue during the night.
On Saturday morning, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced the implementation of missile and drone strikes on targets in several Ukrainian regions, including the Kiev region.
The ministry said that its forces launched a "mass strike" on Friday night, using high-precision ground weapons and long-range attack drones.
She added that the attacks targeted metal factories in the Dnipropetrovsk region, which she said supply facilities belonging to the Ukrainian military industries, in addition to logistics centers and power stations in the city of Mykolaiv and the Mykolaiv and Odessa regions.
In a separate statement, the ministry said that Russian air defenses intercepted and destroyed 53 Ukrainian fixed-wing drones over the Moscow region, Krasnodar Territory and other regions.
On the other hand, Zelensky said that Russian forces launched strikes, which he described as “demonstrative,” on Kiev and Boryspil airports, prior to the American delegation’s visit.
The Ukrainian president considered that the attacks came in response to discussions and preparations related to the possibility of envoys traveling to Ukraine by air and landing at one of the two airports.
Zelensky had pledged to ensure the safety of Russian airspace during the presence of Witkov and Kushner in Moscow, calling on Russia to provide a similar guarantee during their visit to Kiev.
Ukrainian airspace remains closed to civil aviation since the start of the full-scale Russian invasion in February 2022.
Moscow lowers expectations
Despite the new American move, the envoys' arrival was preceded by statements by Russian officials that reduced the chances of rapid progress, in light of continuing disagreements regarding the foundations of any possible settlement.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said that the success of the mission depends on the US administration's willingness to work to reach what he described as a "real solution" that takes into account "the facts on the ground."
He added that the situation on the ground is constantly changing, considering that these changes are not in Kiev's interest.
Ryabkov also criticized what he described as changes in the American position since the summit that brought together Putin and Trump in Alaska in August 2025.
He said that questions still remain regarding the extent of Washington's willingness to adhere to the framework discussed during the summit, and not be influenced by the parties opposed to the settlement.
For his part, the special envoy in the Russian Foreign Ministry, Rodion Miroshnik, accused Zelensky and his European allies of trying to obstruct the dialogue between Moscow and Washington. He said that Russian-American communications in themselves represent an "annoying factor" for them.
As for the Russian Channel One, it said that the proposals presented by Witkov and Kushner are “not new.”
The envoys' tour comes more than a week after a rare visit by CIA Director John Ratcliffe to Moscow.
