Russian President Vladimir Putin met with U.S. envoys Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, and Steve Witkoff at the Kremlin on Saturday in an effort to revive stalled peace negotiations aimed at ending the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. The closed-door meeting lasted more than three hours and was followed by plans for the envoys to visit Kyiv on Sunday, marking their first trip to Ukraine as part of the peace process.
At the outset of the talks, Putin described the situation in Ukraine as “certainly not simple” and conveyed his “best wishes and words of gratitude” to Trump. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov announced that Putin had ordered a temporary halt to strikes on Kyiv for three days, beginning at midnight Saturday, to coincide with the visit. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reciprocated by committing Ukraine to a pause in attacks on Moscow during the same period.
The temporary ceasefire in both capitals comes amid intensified air strikes and drone attacks between Russia and Ukraine along a front line stretching roughly 775 miles. Russia has escalated the use of jet-powered drones targeting Ukrainian cities and infrastructure, including Kyiv’s airports. Ukrainian forces have responded with long-range drone strikes against Russian military facilities, oil refineries, and logistics centers, inflicting damage intended to weaken Russia’s war effort and economy.
Zelenskyy linked recent Russian strikes on Kyiv and Boryspil airports to the arrival of the U.S. envoys, suggesting that these attacks were a reaction to discussions surrounding the possibility of U.S. aircraft arriving in Ukraine. Despite the pauses agreed upon by both sides for the capitals, strikes have continued in other regions. In Ukraine’s southern Dnipropetrovsk region, Russian attacks killed five people and wounded several others, damaging residential and industrial facilities. Similarly, a Russian drone strike hit a house in Chuhuiv in the eastern Kharkiv region, killing three civilians.
On the Russian side, officials in the Belgorod region reported that Ukrainian strikes killed two people and wounded three others. The Russian Defense Ministry stated its forces had intercepted 53 Ukrainian drones overnight, underscoring the continued aerial confrontations.
The talks represent the latest attempt by the Trump administration to broker peace as the five-year conflict drags on with limited progress and intensifying violence. U.S. officials acknowledge that the peace push had lost momentum in recent months due to Washington’s focus on the war with Iran. Witkoff has met with Putin regularly since President Trump took office in 2025, with Kushner joining these efforts since the end of that year.
During the Moscow visit, Putin met the U.S. delegation upon arrival, with Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev—who has been involved in prior informal negotiations and sanction discussions—escorting them. The talks were described by Putin’s foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov as “substantive, constructive and extremely candid,” though details on concrete progress remained unclear.
Zelenskyy emphasized that while Kyiv would refrain from striking Moscow during the talks, any Russian strikes on Ukrainian targets outside of Kyiv and other agreed areas were expected to continue. He also indicated that Ukraine would adjust its operations against Russian airspace in response to the evolving situation.
Despite the ceasefire in the two capitals, the broader conflict continues unabated as both Russia and Ukraine maintain their strategic objectives. The Kremlin has reiterated its position that Ukraine must relinquish control over four regions claimed by Russia and abandon its aspirations to join NATO—conditions Zelenskyy and his allies have rejected. With both sides entrenched, the outcome of the current diplomatic efforts remains uncertain, as the humanitarian and economic toll of the war persists.