Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered a three-day halt to strikes on Kyiv, the Kremlin said Saturday, timed to coincide with a visit by U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to the Ukrainian capital.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the pause would begin at midnight Saturday and was “connected with the preparation for and conduct of the Americans’ contacts in Kyiv.” Witkoff and Kushner arrived in Moscow earlier Saturday and are due to travel on to Kyiv on Sunday, marking the first time either envoy has visited the Ukrainian capital.
The announcement came hours after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russian missiles had struck two airports near Kyiv, including Boryspil, which formerly handled international flights. Zelensky suggested the strikes were a reaction to discussions over the possibility of the American delegation flying into Ukraine.
The envoys are carrying what President Trump described Friday as a proposal to end the war, telling reporters there was “a good chance” of a breakthrough. Russian officials have signaled less optimism, with Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov saying Washington must account for what he called battlefield conditions that have shifted against Kyiv, pointing to Russian advances near industrial towns in the eastern Donetsk region.
The visit follows months of stalled diplomacy after U.S.-mediated talks were paused in mid-February with the start of Washington’s war with Iran. It also comes as Ukraine grapples with a shortage of air-defense interceptors that Zelensky has said has left cities increasingly vulnerable to Russian missile attacks, even as Kyiv has continued long-range strikes on Russian military and energy infrastructure.
