The Kremlin has described President Vladimir Putin's talks with US mediators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, which have resumed after a long break, as constructive, content-rich and trusting. The meeting with US President Donald Trump's envoy about a possible end to the Ukraine war lasted a good three hours, said Putin's foreign policy advisor, Yuri Ushakov, that night. Ushakov emphasized that Putin had once again shown himself to be convinced that he would achieve the goals of his war - which Russia calls a special military operation.
Putin gave his assessment of the situation. “In particular, the real successes of the Russian army in advancing in the operational area were highlighted,” Ushakov said. However, experts give different assessments about the supposed and real progress of the warring parties in the frontline area. There are always doubts as to whether Putin is truthfully informed about the picture by his general staff.
Above all, it is important for Russia to eliminate the root causes of the conflict, said Ushakov. This includes Moscow's actions against the Russian language, which is widespread in parts of Ukraine.
The new talks on the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine between Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin and US negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, which were scheduled at short notice, have come to an end in Moscow. After around three hours of discussions, US President Donald Trump's two envoys left the Kremlin that night, as state media reported and also published a video of the motorcade.
Nothing is yet known about the results of the discussions. However, high-ranking Russian government official Kirill Dmitriyev described the trip on Platform X as an “important peace visit”. Dmitriev, who attended the meeting, published this statement along with photos of him saying goodbye to Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner at a Moscow airport. There is currently no statement from the USA.
Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law want to travel on to Kiev, where they will be received by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky this Sunday. According to Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov, the US negotiators had new proposals in their luggage. Peskov did not give any details. Trump also said that Witkoff and Kushner had a proposal.
"Dear colleagues, I warmly welcome you to Moscow. The situation is of course not easy," Putin told the US envoys in a video broadcast by Russian state television at the start of the talks. The welcome took place in a large hall in the Kremlin. Before the talks begin, Putin said he would “ask everyone to send their best wishes and words of gratitude to US President Trump.”
Putin also said that Moscow would guarantee the safety of the envoys in Kiev - after the Russian army had recently repeatedly shelled the Ukrainian capital. “We will do everything in our power to ensure the security of the negotiation process and mediators like you,” Putin told Witkoff and Kushner.
Putin has ordered a three-day ceasefire in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv. It is intended to ensure that Witkoff and Kushner, who have already been to Russia several times for talks, can visit Kiev for the first time. The Kremlin chief had kept the two of them waiting for a long time on Saturday. He put a new metro line in Moscow and a new, huge oil terminal and pipeline in Siberia into operation via video link. Zelensky confirmed that he was expecting Trump's two envoys in Kiev on Sunday.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has announced that Ukraine will not attack Moscow from the air in the coming days as long as Russia does not attack the Ukrainian capital during this time.
On Saturday afternoon, Zelensky wrote on social media that he had already spoken to the American special envoys who had arrived in Moscow. Since the end of the telephone conversation and until Monday evening, he announced that attacks against Moscow would be refrained from if Russia acted in a mirror image.
The plan for the visit of envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to Kiev is in place. “We are ready for a substantive conversation,” added Zelensky.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered a halt to attacks on the Ukrainian capital Kiev for three days. Putin gave the “order not to attack Kiev for three days from midnight today,” the Russian state news agency Tass quoted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying on Saturday. This decision is related to the “preparation and establishment of contacts” with the US delegation expected in Kiev.
The Russian news agencies Ria Novosti and Tass had previously reported that US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner had arrived in Moscow on Saturday afternoon. According to the information, they are supposed to meet Russian ruler Vladimir Putin there. They are expected later for talks in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv.
American President Donald Trump announced a new diplomatic push to end the war. He called Witkoff and his son-in-law Kushner “two great negotiators” on Friday. He added: “We sent them there to see if we could achieve something.” Witkoff and Kushner brought an American plan to end the war with them for their talks in Moscow.
US special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner have arrived in Moscow, according to Russian news agencies. According to an insider, they will meet with Russian presidential adviser Kirill Dmitriev when they arrive in Moscow on Saturday. The Reuters news agency learned this from two people familiar with the visit. Dmitriev told Reuters in June that he had remained in touch with US negotiators during a break in visits. He also attended all previous meetings of U.S. envoys with Russian President Vladimir Putin and was involved in negotiating exemptions from U.S. sanctions for Russian oil this year.
According to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Russia attacked the airports in Kiev and the nearby city of Boryspil ahead of the visit of two US special envoys. Ukrainian airspace has been closed since Russia's large-scale invasion began in February 2022. However, according to Zelensky, the possibility was discussed that US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner could use a plane for their expected visit to Kiev on Sunday. “Obviously, these Russian attacks on the airports are a response to the discussions and preparations for a possible deployment of a US aircraft in Ukraine with landing at Kiev airport or Boryspil airport,” Zelenskyy explains on Telegram. “Russian-Iranian drones in response to American diplomacy.”
Russia is calling on the US to take battlefield realities into account in talks about ending the conflict, ahead of a possible visit by its special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to Moscow and Kiev. The situation is changing to Ukraine's disadvantage, says Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, according to the Russian state news agency Tass. “The key question is to what extent the US government is willing to invest in finding a real solution to the current crisis, given the realities on the ground.”
Four people were killed in a Russian airstrike in the Dnipropetrovsk region of Ukraine ahead of a US mediation mission in the Ukraine war. The attack hit an industrial plant in the city of Kamianske, regional governor Olexander Hanscha said on Telegram. There were six injured. The Russian military in Moscow spoke of an attack on a large metal combine that supplies the Ukrainian defense industry.
Impacts by Russian drones were also reported in the Kyiv area during the night. However, 59 Ukrainian drones were repelled over Russia during the night, as the Defense Ministry in Moscow announced. The comparatively low number suggests that Ukraine is, as announced, observing a ceasefire due to the visit of US mediators.
Negotiations about an end to the Ukraine war could get moving again with US mediation. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced a weekend visit by U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff and President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner. It was discussed that both would first visit Moscow and then travel to Kiev for the first time on Sunday, Zelensky said in a video message.
According to F.A.Z. information, the headquarters of the Ukrainian domestic secret service SBU in Kiev was hit by a Russian drone. The AFP news agency also writes about such an attack, citing a reporter. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj said on the Telegram online service that the attack was “directly” aimed at the office of the intelligence chief. The head of state therefore instructed SBU boss Olexander Poklad to respond to the Russians in a “mirror image” to this blow.
According to the news agency, AFP reporters saw several ambulances near the building in the center of the Ukrainian capital. According to the city administration, at least seven people were injured in the attack. According to the Reuters news agency, thick black smoke rises above the building that was hit. It is one of the most important government buildings in Ukraine.
