Putin and Zelensky Order Three-Day Attack Pause as Trump Envoys Arrive in Moscow

Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered a three-day halt to attacks on the Ukrainian capital, Kiev, following the arrival of White House envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner in Moscow, the Kremlin announced on Saturday. “The Russian president, the supreme commander of the Armed Forces, Vladimir Putin, ordered that from midnight today and for three days, no attacks be launched against Kiev. This is related to the preparations for the contacts of the (US) envoys in Kiev,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov. Peskov also confirmed that Kiev had informed Moscow of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s decision to suspend attacks on Russia while Witkoff and Kushner are present in both countries. Shortly after, Zelensky confirmed the move on social media: “I just spoke with the envoys of the US president. They have already begun working with the Russian side today. From this moment, we are ready to respect a ceasefire on aerial attacks against the cities involved in the negotiation process.” Washington had demanded security guarantees from both sides. The Kremlin initially denied on Friday that any such agreement with Ukraine was possible. “Russia must do the same... Our goal is to make the visit and negotiations with the American side as constructive and substantial as possible,” Zelensky said in his nightly address. Earlier this week, Zelensky had threatened to make air communications over Russian territory “impossible,” urging Western chancelleries and foreign airlines to respond accordingly. Putin opened negotiations with the US envoys shortly after 8 p.m. local time on Saturday at the Grand Kremlin Palace. This is the first meeting of its kind since January 22. “The situation we are going to discuss today is not, of course, easy,” Putin said at the start, greeting his counterparts in English: “Welcome. Nice to meet you.” He added that he wanted to convey “best wishes” and “words of gratitude” to US President Donald Trump. Also present at the talks were Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov and Kirill Dmitriev, the presidential envoy for economic cooperation with the US. In recent weeks, Kiev has damaged numerous refineries and e-commerce warehouses deep inside Russian territory, while Moscow has intensified missile attacks on Kiev and Black Sea ports. The escalation coincided with the stalled peace process. Peskov confirmed Putin would meet both mediators, who had not traveled to Moscow since January. He cautioned against expecting quick results, noting that Trump himself said “yesterday that these were not new ideas” for resolving the conflict. The US special plane carrying both envoys entered Russian airspace from Finland, less than two weeks after CIA Director John Ratcliffe visited Moscow for the first time since the war began. Trump said on Friday that his envoys “carry a proposal to end the war. Because I ended eight wars.” Putin has agreed to receive Witkoff and Kushner but has so far rejected both a prolonged ceasefire and a possible trilateral summit with the US and Ukraine, unless it is to sign a final peace deal. Negotiations between Russia and Ukraine have been stalled since February, when the US and Israel launched a military operation against Iran.