Vladimir Putin has ordered Russia’s military to suspend strikes on Kyiv for three days, coinciding with the arrival in Moscow of US special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner for talks aimed at reviving negotiations over the war in Ukraine.
The pause is due to begin at midnight on Saturday, September 5, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
The decision marks a potentially significant, if temporary, reduction in hostilities around the Ukrainian capital as Washington attempts to restart diplomatic engagement between Moscow and Kyiv.
The American delegation arrived at Moscow’s Vnukovo Airport aboard a business jet on Saturday, according to Russian media reports, and was met by Kirill Dmitriev, Russia’s special representative.
Witkoff and Kushner are expected to hold discussions with Russian officials before travelling to Kyiv on Sunday, September 6, for talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
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The three-day halt follows speculation from Kyrylo Budanov, head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, who had suggested that Moscow might refrain from targeting Kyiv while the American negotiators were in the region.
The mission represents the most substantial effort to revive peace negotiations since trilateral discussions in Geneva stalled in mid-February.
US President Donald Trump confirmed on Friday that he had dispatched Witkoff and Kushner with a specific proposal intended to bring the conflict to an end.
Speaking at a White House press conference, Trump identified the personal relationship between Putin and Zelenskyy as one of the principal obstacles to a settlement.
The two leaders “really hate each other,” Trump said.
The US president also claimed, without providing independent verification, that Russian and Ukrainian forces had suffered a combined 32,000 casualties over the previous week.
Zelenskyy said on Friday that his office had been coordinating logistical arrangements for the American delegation directly with Washington and that Ukraine was preparing to ensure the negotiators could travel safely.
The Kremlin’s decision to halt strikes on Kyiv may offer the clearest indication in months that Moscow is willing to make limited military concessions to facilitate renewed diplomatic engagement.
It comes after Peskov previously described negotiations as being on “a deep pause,” while reports citing sources close to the Kremlin suggested that Moscow believed the peace process had reached an impasse.
The two sides have continued to maintain conditions for a settlement that appear fundamentally incompatible.
Kyiv has insisted that any agreement must preserve Ukrainian sovereignty and provide credible security guarantees, while Moscow has maintained demands that Ukraine and its western partners have regarded as unacceptable.
The temporary suspension of attacks on Kyiv therefore falls well short of a broader ceasefire, but could nevertheless provide a test of whether limited reciprocal measures can create space for more substantive negotiations.
The timing is particularly significant following Russia’s recent attacks on Ukrainian airports, which Kyiv said appeared designed to discourage the use of Kyiv and Boryspil as potential arrival points for US officials.
The Kremlin’s subsequent decision to suspend strikes on the capital suggests that the arrival of senior American negotiators has prompted a reassessment of the immediate military and diplomatic risks.
For the Trump administration, the Moscow and Kyiv visits represent an attempt to overcome months of diplomatic paralysis by engaging directly with both sides.
Whether the mission can produce progress will depend on whether the temporary pause in strikes can be translated into broader confidence-building measures.
The gap between Moscow and Kyiv remains substantial, and previous attempts to establish even limited ceasefires have repeatedly collapsed.
Nevertheless, the decision to suspend attacks on Kyiv during the diplomatic mission creates a narrow window in which negotiators may attempt to establish whether a renewed political process remains possible.
For now, the three-day halt represents a tactical concession rather than a comprehensive change in Russia’s military strategy. But its coincidence with the arrival of Trump’s envoys ensures that the outcome of the coming talks will be closely watched in Washington, Moscow and Kyiv.
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