The visit came amid an escalation in aerial attacks by both sides, although Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy agreed to pause strikes on each other’s capitals while the talks were under way, India Today reported.
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The American envoys are also due to visit Kyiv on Sunday for the first time in the peace process, Ukrainian officials said. Washington’s push to end the war has lost momentum over the past six months as US attention was focused on the Iran war. Witkoff and Kushner, US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, last visited Moscow in January, when they also held talks with Putin at the Kremlin.
At the start of the meeting, Putin asked Kushner and Witkoff to convey his warm wishes and gratitude to Trump, and described the situation in Ukraine as “not simple”. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told Tass, “(Russian President Vladimir) Putin has ordered that no strikes be carried out against Kyiv for three days, starting at midnight today.” Zelenskyy said Ukraine was prepared to halt strikes on Moscow until Monday after speaking with the US delegation following its arrival in Moscow. “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,” he said.
The envoys were received at the airport in Moscow by Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev, Tass reported. Dmitriev posted photographs of the meeting with the caption, “Welcome to Moscow Peacemakers.”
