US envoys meet with Putin, leave Russia for Kyiv

The US envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Saturday evening.

"The situation is of course not simple," Putin told the US officials in footage aired on Russian state media. 

Putin and US envoys held "useful" talks on a range of ideas to end the war in Ukraine, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters.

According to Russian state news agency TASS, US envoys left Moscow after the meeting.

Earlier, US President Donald Trump did not provide any details on the potential peace plan, including whether it involved Ukraine giving territory to Russia as he has previously suggested. Instead, he said, "We have an idea for peace."

Russia, Ukraine pause strikes for three days

Russia will pause strikes against Kyiv for three days, the Kremlin said earlier on Saturday, coinciding with peace negotiations led by US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner.

Putin "has ordered that no strikes be carried out against Kyiv for three days, starting at midnight today," Kremlin spokesperson Dmirty Peskov told state media.

It comes after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy already committed to pausing airstrikes for the talks.

"As with previous diplomatic visits by the American side, we will ensure the normal functioning of Russian airspace so that the negotiators can arrive safely. We are concerned about their safety, not about Russia," Zelenskyy said.

US envoys to visit Kyiv next

Zelenskyy announced on Friday that Kushner and Witkoff would visit Ukraine on Sunday following talks in Moscow.

Recent media reports have questioned whether the pair would indeed travel to Ukraine. Despite trips to Moscow to meet with Russian officials, the US envoys have not visited Kyiv since Trump's reelection last year.

On Saturday, Zelenskyy said he had been in contact with Kushner and Witkoff.

"I ⁠have ​just spoken ​with the US president’s ​envoys," Zelenskyy said ‌on Telegram.

"From the moment of this conversation, ​we ⁠are ready to observe a ⁠ceasefire ​in airstrikes against the cities involved in the negotiation process."

Trump had promised to end the war in Ukraine, now in its fifth year, on his first day back in office, but has more recently said that the feat was more complicated than expected. In the past, he has blamed Ukraine for the Russian invasion and a "personality problem" between the countries' leaders for the continued fighting. 

Drone strikes continue

Meanwhile, a Russian drone hit the headquarters of Ukraine's domestic security service (SBU) in Kyiv on Friday.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha called the strike "a major escalation" of the war.

"Moscow launched this strike during a renewed push for peace — laying bare its true rejection of diplomacy," he wrote on X.

Zelenskyy said he ordered "an appropriate, tangible response and, where possible, one that mirrors this strike."

Ukraine has also launched repeated drone strikes on Russian oil infrastructure and the retail giant Wildberries. 

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Edited by: Srinivas Mazumdaru, Wesley Dockery, Dmytro Hubenko

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