US delegation in Moscow: Putin orders pause in attacks on Kyiv

A date for the conversation in the Kremlin was not officially announced. Previous meetings with Putin usually took place late in the evening. According to the Reuters news agency, the convoy has left the airport and is heading towards downtown Moscow. Kirill Dmitriev, advisor to Russian President Vladimir Putin, is also in the motorcade.

After several visits to Moscow, Witkoff and Kushner are scheduled to visit the Ukrainian capital Kyiv for the first time on Sunday, as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj confirmed.

Putin: Attacks on Kyiv should be paused for three days

Before his visit to Kyiv, Putin is said to have ordered the attacks on the Ukrainian capital to stop for three days. The Russian head of state had given the "order not to attack Kyiv for three days from midnight today," the Tass news agency 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 Kyiv.

Zelensky had previously reported attacks on the airports in Kyiv and the nearby city of Boryspil. Ukrainian airspace has been closed since Russia's large-scale invasion began in February 2022. However, according to the Ukrainian president, the possibility that Witkoff and Kushner could arrive by plane on Sunday was discussed.

New US mediations after a long break

Zelensky himself announced that Kyiv would ensure the normal operation of Russian airspace for the visit, "as was the case during previous diplomatic visits from the US side." There will be no air strikes from the Ukrainian side; Russia must react in a mirror image, he said. According to the New York Times, the US government has also insisted on a halt to the attack. This is also why negotiations about the trip dragged on for weeks.

With the visits to Moscow, the USA is resuming its attempts to mediate an end to the Russian war of aggression, which has been going on for four and a half years, after a break. Against the backdrop of the Iran War, US President Donald Trump's efforts to find a negotiated solution to the Ukraine conflict have recently stalled.