Russia suspends airstrikes in Kiev as US envoys hold talks | Today’s news
President Vladimir Putin has ordered Russian forces to suspend airstrikes on Kiev for three days as US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner arrive in Moscow for talks and prepare to travel to the Ukrainian capital.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed that the Kremlin had received information that Kiev would also cease fire for three days. Witkoff and Kushner landed in Moscow on Saturday, and Putin plans to meet with both, Peskov said.
Expectations for the visit are extremely low, according to people close to the Kremlin. Previous trips by Witkoff and Kushner have not made progress, and there is no reason to believe they are now producing acceptable proposals, the people said. On Saturday, Peskov warned against jumping ahead of US proposals and asked to wait for the Putin-Witkoff-Kushner meeting.
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Russia suspended airstrikes on Kiev as US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner arrived for talks aimed at creating a conducive environment for diplomatic discussions.
Zelensky’s proposal for a 72-hour ceasefire is intended to facilitate negotiations with US envoys and ensure that there will be no airstrikes from either side during their visit.
US envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff plan to revive stalled talks and present proposals aimed at ending the war while addressing regional stability.
Before the pause, hostilities escalated, with Russian forces carrying out several raids on Ukrainian territory, including daytime attacks on Kiev.
Expectations of meaningful progress from the US envoys’ visit are low due to previous failed attempts at negotiations, making Ukraine cautious about the upcoming talks.
Putin is only prepared to end the war on his terms, and Moscow’s demands are getting tougher because it believes it has military superiority over Ukraine, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing the sensitive matters.
People familiar with thinking in Kyiv said Ukraine was also pessimistic about meaningful progress around the Witkoff-Kushner visit. US envoys are expected to push past ideas such as making Donbas an economic free zone, which Russia has already rejected, the people said.
US President Donald Trump said in the Oval Office on Friday that his envoys “bring with them a proposal to end the war”, without elaborating.
Kushner and Witkoff plan to travel to Ukraine on Sunday, in what would be their first visit there since the war began, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said late Friday at X. Kyiv’s goal is to make the visit “as constructive and substantial as possible,” he said. Ukraine would not carry out airstrikes for the duration of the visit by US officials, Zelenskyy said – a promise Moscow is now returning.
Hostilities continued even before the break. The Ukrainian General Staff said on Saturday that Russian forces fired Iskander-M and KN-23 ballistic missiles at Ukraine overnight, along with 167 attack drones. The targets of the strike included steel mills in the Dnepropetrovsk region and fuel depots near Hostomel airport near Kyiv.
Zelenskyy said the Russian strikes on the airport in Kyiv and nearby Boryspil overnight were “demonstrational”.
“These Russian strikes on the airport are apparently in response to discussions and preparations for the possibility of the US side using the plane to travel to Ukraine and land at Kyiv or Boryspil airports,” he wrote in a post on X. “Russian-Iranian ‘Shaheeds’ in response to US diplomacy.”
“Ukraine is interested in bringing peace closer together,” Zelenskyy added.
The Russian ministry reports 53 downed Ukrainian drones in nine regions, including Moscow. Ukrainian drone activity was slightly lower than in recent days, when Kyiv forces launched hundreds of drones targeting Russian locations.
With the help of Alberto Nardelli.
This article was generated from an automated news agency source without text modification.
