US envoys arrive in Moscow for peace talks as Russian attacks continue in Ukraine

Russian presidential envoy Kirill Dmitriev greets United States special envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff upon arrival at Vnukovo International Airport in Moscow, Russia.

The plane carrying Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner landed at Vnukovo airport at 12:52 pm local time (6:52 am in Brasília).

After negotiations in the Russian capital, the two are expected to head to Kiev, on a visit scheduled for Sunday (6). It will be the duo's first trip to the Ukrainian capital since acting as mediators in the negotiations.

According to Reuters, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the suspension of attacks against Kiev for three days due to preparations for the arrival of the American delegation, a Kremlin spokesman said.

Despite the measure, Russia carried out new bombings in other regions of Ukraine. According to the Interfax agency (IFX), which cites the Russian Ministry of Defense, Russian forces struck two ships carrying military cargo destined for Ukraine in the port of Chornomorsk.

The same source also reported that cargo vessels near the port of Odessa were also attacked.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the offensive was Moscow's response to discussions about the possibility of Witkoff and Kushner traveling by plane to Ukraine.

According to Zelensky, the attacks occurred after American authorities evaluated the possibility of using an aircraft to land in Kiev or Boryspil, despite Ukrainian airspace remaining closed since the start of the Russian invasion in 2022.

Also this Saturday, a Russian ballistic missile attack against the Kamet Steel steel plant, in the city of Kamianske, Dnipro region, killed five people and caused the unit's operations to completely stop, reported Metinvest, Ukraine's largest mining and steel group.

The company stated that the factory produces pig iron and steel exclusively for civilian purposes and classified the bombing as yet another attack on the country's industrial infrastructure.

In his statement, Zelensky also reported that residential buildings were damaged in Kherson, Boryspil and the Kharkiv region, while drones hit shopping centers in the cities of Sumy and Mykolaiv.

The Ukrainian president said Kiev would respond by adjusting its operations in relation to Russian airspace, but stressed that "there is and will not be any threat to diplomacy" from Ukraine.