Ukraine: Putin meets Witkoff and Kushner as temporary pause in Kyiv strikes begins

Vladimir Putin began talks with US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner at the Kremlin, warning that the situation under discussion “is not simple.” The meeting came as Russia ordered a temporary halt to attacks on Kyiv.

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The situation that must be examined is not simple.

Putin instructed Russian forces not to strike the Ukrainian capital from midnight for three days, his spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Tass. Peskov said the pause was intended to coincide with the arrival of the American envoys for talks with Putin in Moscow.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said the key question was how far the US administration was prepared to invest in finding a genuine solution to the crisis while taking conditions on the ground into account. “This situation is not developing in Kyiv’s favor,” Ryabkov said, according to Tass.

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The key question is how far the US administration is prepared to invest in finding a real solution to the current crisis, taking into account the situation on the ground.

Zelenskyy said Ukraine would also refrain from attacks on Moscow from Saturday through Monday and expressed hope that Russia would do the same in relation to Kyiv. “We are waiting for Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner and are ready for a constructive dialogue,” he wrote on Telegram.

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This situation is not developing in Kyiv’s favor.

Zelenskyy separately accused Russia of carrying out deliberate overnight attacks on airports in Kyiv and Boryspil, saying they could be linked to preparations for a possible US flight to Ukraine. He said Ukraine would adjust its operations around Russian airspace the following week. He also reported that a Russian strike hit a civilian company in Kamianske, in Dnipropetrovsk region, killing four people and injuring five. Other attacks damaged residential buildings in Kherson, Boryspil and the Kharkiv region.

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We are waiting for Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner and are ready for a constructive dialogue.