Putin Pauses Kyiv Strikes as Trump Envoys Land
Putin Pauses Kyiv Strikes as Trump Envoys Land
The News
Vladimir Putin has ordered a 72-hour halt to Russian strikes on Kyiv, the Kremlin said Saturday, as U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner landed in Moscow to try to restart a stalled push to end the war in Ukraine.
"Putin has ordered that no strikes be carried out against Kyiv for three days, starting at midnight today," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russia's state news agency TASS, according to the Associated Press and the Washington Examiner. Peskov said the decision was tied to preparations for the envoys' visit to the Ukrainian capital, which Ukraine says will happen Sunday.
This is not a ceasefire. The order Peskov described covers strikes on one city for three days. Russian attacks elsewhere in Ukraine went on through Saturday, and no ceasefire framework or negotiating agenda has been made public.
Peskov confirmed Putin would meet the two Americans — and damped expectations, saying there was "no talk of new ideas" to end the conflict.
Reuters reported, citing two people familiar with the visit, that Witkoff and Kushner were met at Moscow's government airport by Russian presidential envoy Kirill Dmitriev, and that a motorcade carrying the three men headed into the city. Dmitriev posted photos of the arrival with the caption "Welcome to Moscow Peacemakers," TASS reported.
The pair last visited Moscow in January, when they met Putin, the AP reported. They have never been to Kyiv.
Timeline
A Russian drone hit the headquarters of Ukraine's SBU security service in Kyiv — one of the most important government buildings in the capital, and home to an agency involved in deep-strike operations inside Russia. Reuters counted it as the 10th straight day of heavy attacks on Kyiv. Zelensky vowed to retaliate.
Trump said he had sent his negotiators to find out whether a deal was possible, and suggested the U.S. had a fresh concrete proposal to end the war. He did not say what is in it.
Zelensky said Ukraine would halt its own airstrikes during the envoys' visit, and urged Moscow to do the same.
Russia fired ballistic missiles from its Rostov and Voronezh regions and launched 167 attack drones, Ukraine's air force said; 128 were shot down or suppressed. Russia's Defense Ministry said its forces downed 53 Ukrainian drones.
Witkoff and Kushner land in Moscow. Peskov announces the three-day pause on Kyiv.
Reactions
"I sent Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, two great negotiators," Trump said Friday, per the Washington Examiner. "They've done a great job, and we sent them over to see whether or not we can get something done, and there may be a good chance of that." He blamed the deadlock partly on the two leaders themselves: "It's a personality problem in Russia-Ukraine... They truly hate each other."
Zelensky said Saturday that Russia had struck Kyiv and Boryspil international airports overnight and tied it directly to the American trip. "Clearly, these Russian strikes on the airports are a reaction to the discussions and preparations for the possibility of the U.S. side using an aircraft to travel to Ukraine," he wrote, adding that Ukraine would adjust its drone operations over Russian airspace next week and that "there are and will be no threats to diplomacy from our side."
The killing did not stop for the diplomacy. Russian attacks killed five people and wounded five more at an industrial facility in the southern Dnipropetrovsk region, regional military administration head Oleksandr Hanzha said. "A locksmith, an electrician, a plumber and a machinist. People of peaceful professions," he said. "They were simply working their shift." Russia's Defense Ministry said it had struck two metallurgical plants in the region, calling them suppliers to Ukraine's military production.
What's Next
Witkoff and Kushner are due in Kyiv on Sunday to meet Zelensky — their first trip to the Ukrainian capital.
The gap they have to close is enormous. The Kremlin said Friday that Putin's position — that Ukraine cede the entire territory of four regions Russia claims, and abandon its plan to join NATO — was "unshakeable," Reuters reported. Kyiv has rejected those terms. Since the last peace talks in February, both sides have escalated long-range strikes, and the front line has barely moved.
Watch whether the pause holds past its three days, and whether either side signals any movement on its core demands.
More
The American push to end the fighting, now in its fifth year, lost momentum while Washington's attention went to its war with Iran, the AP reported. CIA Director John Ratcliffe traveled to Moscow less than two weeks ago to meet his Russian counterpart, the Washington Examiner reported; the substance of those talks has not been disclosed.
Ukraine's own long-range campaign has hit Russian military sites, oil refineries and e-commerce warehouses — drone strikes on refineries produced a summer of fuel shortages and rising pump prices for Russian drivers, Reuters reported.
Reporting from PBS NewsHour/Associated Press, Reuters via The Jerusalem Post, the Washington Examiner and TASS.
UMass Dartmouth Running Back, 18, Stabbed to Death
Trump Vows 'AI Force,' Czar; Polls Name Change
Sep 20, 2026
Iran Sends Trump Three Conditions to End War
Sep 19, 2026
Faulty AI Intel Nearly Started War With China
Sep 19, 2026
German General Breuer Elected NATO's Top Officer
Sep 19, 2026
Nobel Laureate: War, Sanctions Crushing Iranians
Sep 19, 2026
Dutch Police Disperse Violent Far-Right Hague Protest
Sep 19, 2026
GOP Midterm Odds Fade With 45 Days Left
Sep 19, 2026
Maher Rejects Tarlov's Claim Democrats Are Less Crazy
Sep 19, 2026
Patrick Clancy Breaks Silence After Ex-Wife Killed Kids
Sep 19, 2026
Trump Cuts Park Staff, Diverts Fees to DC
Sep 19, 2026
Holocaust Heirs Sue LA Museums Over Looted Art
Sep 19, 2026
Trump's Fed Chair Hikes Rates, Defying White House
Sep 19, 2026
Miller Drives Push to Deport Illegal Immigrant Children
Sep 19, 2026
US Lifts Sanctions on Eritrea's Military, Ruling Party
Sep 19, 2026
Air Force Admits US Has Space Weapons
Sep 19, 2026
Turkey Revokes License of Iran's Mellat Bank
Sep 19, 2026
Billionaire Ratcliffe Blasts Britain Over Immigration, Taxes
Sep 19, 2026
Navajo Nation Flash Flood Kills Three
Sep 19, 2026
Explosions Over Riyadh Trigger Saudi Air Alerts
Sep 19, 2026
Sep 19, 2026