Vladimir Putin has ordered attacks against Kiev to be suspended for three days, starting from midnight on Saturday 5 September. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov announced this to Tass, explaining that the suspension must coincide with the mission of Donald Trump’s envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, who landed in Moscow this morning for talks with the Russian president before moving to the Ukrainian capital.
The truce requested by Zelensky
The Russian decision comes after the proposal made the previous evening by Volodymyr Zelensky, who had announced the suspension of Ukrainian air strikes on Russian territory for the entire duration of the visit, asking Moscow for a reciprocal gesture. “There will be no air strikes on our part and Russia will have to mutually guarantee a ceasefire for the time necessary to conduct these talks,” he said in his evening speech.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov outlined Moscow’s expectations ahead of the meeting: “The key question is to what extent the US administration is willing to invest in finding a real solution to the current crisis, taking into account the situation on the ground.”
Attacks on airports
During the night, before the Kremlin’s announcement, Russia struck a civilian target in the Dnipro region causing the death of four people, and also targeted Kiev’s two airports. A move which, according to Zelensky, aimed to hinder the visit of the envoys. “It is clear that these Russian attacks on airports represent a reaction to discussions and preparations for the possible use of a plane by the US delegation to travel to Ukraine,” the Ukrainian president said on X, adding that there will be no “threats to diplomacy” from the Ukrainian side.
It will be the first time Witkoff and Kushner have visited Kiev since Trump returned to office. Traveling by plane would be a somewhat unusual move, given that Ukrainian airspace has been closed since the Russian invasion and leaders and officials visiting Kiev have so far mostly traveled by train. The arrival of the envoys in the Ukrainian capital is expected on Sunday 6 September.
Trump’s proposal
Trump told reporters that negotiators will try to assess whether there is room for progress towards peace. «I sent Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, two great negotiators. They did a great job and we sent them there to see if we can get something done. And there is a good chance that we will succeed,” the US president said. “They bring with them a proposal to end the war.”
The president did not specify whether the plan involves the cession of territories by Ukraine – a hypothesis put forward previously – simply adding: “We have an idea for peace.” Witkoff and Kushner, already involved in ceasefire negotiations in Gaza and Iran, have traveled to Moscow several times during previous diplomatic efforts.
The raid on the SBU headquarters
The renewed diplomatic momentum comes as Russia and Ukraine hit each other with long-range missile and drone attacks. A few hours before Trump’s announcement, a Russian drone hit the headquarters of the SBU, the Ukrainian security service, in central Kiev. The attack, which Zelensky said targeted the office of the agency’s acting head, was the first on the intelligence headquarters since the invasion began.
Hours after Zelensky’s truce proposal, Oleksandr Ganzha, head of the Dnipropetrovsk regional military administration, said a Russian attack killed four people and wounded five others in the southeastern city of Kamianske.
The mission of the CIA
The trip by Witkoff and Kushner comes less than two weeks after an unprecedented visit to Moscow by the director of the CIA, John Ratcliffe, who according to US media went to warn Russia against any attack on NATO member states.