Putin Meets US Envoys as Russia Halts Strikes on Kyiv for 72 Hours

A three-day pause on strikes in Russia and Ukraine’s capital cities began on Saturday as U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner arrived in Moscow to mediate peace talks between the two countries.

Russian President Vladimir Putin confirmed on Sept. 5 that he ordered a 72-hour pause on strikes in Ukraine’s capital city, Kyiv, as the U.S. special representatives planned to journey from Russia to Ukraine over the weekend as they work to broker a deal to help end the war, which escalated in February 2022.

The U.S. envoys arrived at Moscow’s ​governmental airport on Saturday and were greeted by Russian presidential envoy Kirill Dmitriev, who shared photos of the arrival in an X post with the caption, “Welcome to Moscow Peacemakers @SteveWitkoff and @jaredkushner!” The post included a dove emoji at the end.

Witkoff and Kushner then met with Putin on Saturday at the Kremlin.

Putin opened the talks by admitting that the process would not be simple, then sent his “best wishes and words of gratitude” to U.S. President Donald Trump, according to a translated transcript of the meeting provided by the Kremlin.

“While he understands that he’s entering a difficult situation overall, he’s not stopping his efforts to resolve and contribute to the resolution of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict,” Putin said, while speaking about Trump during Saturday’s meeting. “Today, we’ll discuss all its components, all aspects, and we, for our part, are ready to inform you of our view of the situation.”

Putin said he’s comfortable working with Witkoff and Kushner, saying “the level of trust we have in this process is certainly quite high.”

On Sunday, the two U.S. envoys will meet with officials in Kyiv, which was confirmed by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

“From the moment of this conversation, we are ready to observe a ceasefire in airstrikes against the cities involved in the negotiation process,” Zelenskyy wrote in an X post on Sept. 5.

Zelenskyy added that he is ready for a “substantive conversation.”

A separate ceasefire, brokered by the International Atomic Energy Agency, was underway on Saturday at the ‌Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southeastern Ukraine.

The pause in fighting was made to allow repairs to restore external power to the plant, which has relied on emergency ​diesel generators to cool its vital safety systems since Aug. 20.

Reuters contributed to this report.