Putin orders pause on strikes on Kyiv as Witkoff and Kushner arrive in Moscow for peace talks

By Tim Lister, Charlotte Reck, and Tim Lister, CNN

(CNN) — Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered a three-day halt to attacks on Kyiv, starting Saturday night, as a US delegation visits Moscow ahead of traveling to the Ukrainian capital.

The Kremlin made the announcement as President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner arrived in Moscow for talks on ending the conflict.

The US delegation arrived at the Kremlin on Saturday afternoon, where its members were seen meeting with Putin in video released by Russian state news agency RIA Novosti.

Welcoming the guests, Putin alluded to challenges posed by the talks and underlined his appreciation for the US leader:

“The situation we need to work through today is, of course, not a simple one,” he said. “But before we begin doing that, I want to ask you to convey my very best wishes, and a word of gratitude, to the President of the United States, Mr. Trump.”

The Kremlin said the suspension of strikes on Kyiv would begin at midnight local time but said they applied only to the capital rather than the rest of the country.

“This is connected with the preparation for and conduct of the Americans’ contacts in Kyiv,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

After visiting the Russian capital, Witkoff and Kushner are due to travel to the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, for the first time.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he had talked with Witkoff and Kushner on Saturday and that Ukraine was ready to halt strikes on Moscow through Monday.

“I have just spoken with the U.S. President’s envoys. They have already begun working with the Russian side today,” Zelensky said in a post on X. “From now through the end of Saturday, as well as on Sunday and Monday, Ukraine is ready to refrain from strikes on Moscow, and we expect the Russians to do the same regarding Kyiv.”

Zelensky appeared hopeful about the planned Kyiv engagement, adding: “We are waiting for Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner and are ready for a substantive conversation.”

Strikes on airports

Zelensky said earlier Saturday that two airports near Kyiv had been struck by Russian missiles, including the airport at Boryspil, which used to handle international flights.

“Evidently, these Russian strikes on airports are a reaction to discussions and preparations regarding the possibility of the American side using an aircraft to arrive in Ukraine,” Zelensky said.

Since the war began, foreign leaders have traveled to Kyiv by rail from Poland. It’s unclear whether the reported Russian strikes will alter the US delegation’s plans.

The US mission comes amid near-constant Russian missile and drone strikes on the Ukrainian capital, including a direct hit on the Kyiv headquarters of Ukraine’s Security Service, the SBU, on Friday.

Zelensky has said that an acute shortage of air defense interceptors has left Ukraine vulnerable to ballistic missile attacks.

Trump described Witkoff and Kushner as “great negotiators” at the White House on Friday.

“They’re bringing with them a proposal to end the war,” Trump said, adding that “there may be a good chance we will do it.”

The Kremlin sounded less optimistic.

“Yesterday Trump himself said that there’s no talk of new ideas. That was a statement by the US president,” Peskov said in response to a question about whether the negotiators were bringing new ideas for settling the conflict.

‘Realities on the ground’

Russian officials have indicated that Moscow is not in the mood to compromise.

“The US administration must take into account the realities on the ground in the matter of Ukrainian settlement, where the situation is changing not in Kyiv’s favor,” Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told Russian state media TASS.

Ryabkov suggested that Ukraine was struggling on the battlefield, and that the United States must consider this.

A belt of important industrial towns in the eastern Donetsk region is under growing threat from Russian forces, which have inched forward in recent months.

Russian strikes continued elsewhere in Ukraine overnight Friday into Saturday, including missile attacks on Black Sea ports and and a factory in the central region of Dnipropetrovsk.

Zelensky has welcomed the prospect of Witkoff and Kushner’s visit to Kyiv, planned for Sunday.

“Our goal is to have a visit and negotiations with the American side that are as constructive and substantive as possible. We need to look for realistic options on how to bring this war to an end,” Zelensky said on Friday.

CNN’s Ivana Kottasová, Victoria Butenko, Jennifer Hansler, Kosta Gak and Darya Tarasova contributed reporting.

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