MOSCOW, Sep 06 (Alliance News): Russian President Vladimir Putin met US envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff at the Kremlin on Saturday for talks aimed at ending more than four years of war in Ukraine.
The meeting comes as Washington seeks to revive negotiations to end the conflict, with both Russia and Ukraine agreeing not to strike each other’s capitals for three days during the discussions.
US President Donald Trump earlier said Kushner and Witkoff were carrying a proposal aimed at ending the war.
“I warmly welcome you to Moscow. The situation is, of course, not simple,” Putin told the US envoys in the Kremlin, according to footage broadcast by Russian television.
Putin also asked the envoys to convey his best wishes and words of gratitude to Trump.
The talks are taking place amid continued fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces, with civilian casualties rising as both sides intensify missile and drone attacks.
Ukrainian officials said Russian strikes on Saturday killed at least seven people, including in areas around Kyiv.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia would suspend strikes on Kyiv for three days beginning at midnight Saturday.
“The Russian president, the commander-in-chief, has given the order from midnight tonight not to strike Kyiv for three days,” Peskov said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky later said Ukraine would also refrain from strikes on Moscow through Monday.
“From now through the end of Saturday, as well as on Sunday and Monday, Ukraine is ready to refrain from strikes on Moscow,” Zelensky said on social media.
Zelensky said he had spoken with the US envoys and expected them to visit Kyiv on Sunday.
First Kyiv visit
The planned visit will be the first time Witkoff and Kushner travel to Kyiv since Trump returned to the White House last year with a pledge to help resolve the conflict.
The trip comes with Ukrainian airspace closed since Russia’s invasion in 2022, making air travel to Kyiv highly unusual. Visiting foreign officials have generally travelled to the Ukrainian capital by train.
Zelensky said Russian strikes on Kyiv’s two airports were aimed at disrupting preparations for the US delegation’s visit.
“Clearly, these Russian strikes on the airports are a reaction to the discussions and preparations for the possibility of the US side using an aircraft to travel to Ukraine,” he said.
The US envoys are expected to meet Zelensky in Kyiv on Sunday, according to a senior Ukrainian official.
Trump has said the purpose of the mission is to determine whether meaningful progress towards a peace agreement is possible.
Peace efforts have faced setbacks, partly because of Washington’s war with Iran, while Russia and Ukraine have continued heavy long-range attacks.
Trump declined to say whether his peace proposal would require Ukraine to cede territory, but said the US had “an idea for peace”.
Witkoff and Kushner have previously been involved in US diplomatic efforts concerning ceasefires in Gaza and Iran and have travelled to Moscow during earlier attempts to advance negotiations.
Fighting continues
The diplomatic efforts come as Russia and Ukraine continue to exchange missile and drone strikes.
Just hours before Trump’s announcement on Friday, a Russian drone struck the headquarters of Ukraine’s SBU security service in central Kyiv, according to Zelensky.
Ukrainian officials said the strike was aimed at the office of the agency’s acting chief and marked the first attack on the headquarters since the beginning of the war.
A Russian strike also killed five people and wounded five others in the southeastern city of Kamianske, according to Oleksandr Ganzha, head of the Dnipropetrovsk regional military administration.
The latest talks follow a rare visit to Moscow last month by CIA Director John Ratcliffe, who reportedly warned Russia against attacking NATO member states.
The renewed diplomatic push comes as the war continues to cause widespread destruction and displacement, with hundreds of thousands of people killed and millions forced from their homes since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
