US special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner are in Moscow as part of a renewed White House effort to end Russia's war against Ukraine, with the pair set to visit Kyiv afterward.
The Kremlin said Russian President Vladimir Putin would receive the two envoys on September 5. Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin ordered a three-day halt to Russian strikes on Kyiv starting at midnight ahead of their planned visit to the Ukrainian capital, which Russia has hammered with attacks for a week.
The developments came as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Russia of deliberately targeting Kyiv's two airports in overnight strikes in an attempt to disrupt the US envoys' visit. Other Russian attacks across Ukraine killed at least five people.
Earlier, US President Donald Trump said Washington had "an idea for peace" and that his envoys were "bringing with them a proposal to end the war," now in its fifth year since Putin launched the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
"I sent them over to see whether or not we can get something done, and there may be a good chance that we'll do it," Trump told reporters at the White House on September 4.
He gave no details. Putin has shown no sign of compromise in recent comments, among other things insisting that Russia must control all of eastern Ukraine's Donetsk region, including the parts its forces have failed to capture in years of heavy fighting.
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Alleged Confession Video Raises More Questions About Ukrainian Security Agencies' Shoot-OutResponding to increasing concerns in the West that Russia could attack a NATO member to test the alliance's resolve, Trump again said he doesn't believe Putin is planning such a move.
"I speak to him. I know him very well. Putin's not looking to attack NATO territory," Trump said.
Zelenskyy said on September 4 that "today it has been clearly determined that American representatives will be in Ukraine and in Russia in the coming days" and he called for a pause in air strikes by both sides to facilitate any meetings.
He added that the US team had informed him that Witkoff and Kushner would visit Kyiv on September 6, a day after their talks in Moscow.
Zelenskyy Calls For Pause In Air Strikes
Zelenskyy said Ukrainian forces would "ensure the normal functioning of Russia airspace so that the negotiators can arrive there safely" and demanded that Moscow reciprocate.
"There will be no air strikes from our side, and Russia must also refrain from conducting air strikes for the time needed to hold these negotiations."
Putin's order for a halt to strikes on Kyiv from September 6-8 came the following day. Peskov made no mention of other parts of Ukraine when he told Russian media about the decision, which came amid reports that Russia continued its attacks elsewhere in Ukraine ahead of the planned pause.
Zelenskyy said on September 5 that Russian forces had targeted Kyiv's Zhulyany and Boryspil airports, accusing Moscow of seeking to create uncertainty over the US envoys' planned journey to Ukraine.
"Clearly, these Russian strikes on the airports are a reaction to the discussions and preparations for the possibility of the US side using an aircraft to travel to Ukraine," Zelenskyy said on X , adding there would be "no threats to diplomacy" from the Ukrainian side.
Flying into Kyiv would be highly unusual. Ukrainian airspace has been closed to regular civilian flights since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in 2022, and visiting foreign leaders and officials have generally reached the capital by train.
The visit would come just days after a Russian drone strike hit the headquarters of Ukraine's domestic security service -- known as the SBU and a key agency that would be responsible for the US envoys' safety during a visit.
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How Much Can Ukraine Disrupt Civilian Flights In Russia?Despite Zelenskyy's call for a mutual pause ahead of a fresh round of diplomacy, Russia continued to target places across Ukraine on September 5, killing five people and wounding five at an industrial facility in the Dnipropetrovsk region, according to regional authorities.
Two people were also wounded in the Kyiv region and two others in the southern Mykolayiv region, according to reports. The Ukrainian military said that, in its overnight strikes, Moscow used Iskander-M ballistic missiles and at least 167 drones, around half of which were jet-powered.
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Russia's Jet-Powered Drones: A Major New Threat To Ukraine Amid Speeding Arms RaceNew Diplomatic Push
The US envoys' visit to Kyiv would mark their first visit to Ukraine since taking leading roles in the administration's efforts to end the war and come amid a renewed diplomatic push aimed at reaching a peace agreement.
Trump made ending the largest war in Europe since 1945 a priority when he took office in January 2025, but an agreement has been elusive and diplomacy had been largely stalled since the start of the US-Israeli war with Iran in late February.
Despite the renewed diplomacy, fundamental differences between Moscow and Kyiv remain. The Kremlin said on September 4 that Putin's position that Ukraine should cede the entirety of the four mainland regions claimed by Russia -- Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhya, and Kherson -- and abandon its ambition to join NATO remained "unshakeable."
Kyiv has voiced willingness to hold talks with the front lines frozen in place, but has repeatedly rejected giving up its territory to Russia and has insisted on security guarantees as part of any peace settlement.
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Ratcliffe's Moscow Warning: What We Know A Week Later, According To Ex-CIA OfficersCIA Director John Ratcliffe on August 25 met with the heads of the Russian intelligence and security services in Moscow. The US spy agency did not disclose the full agenda, but the Kremlin said Ratcliffe did not meet with Putin.
Analysts say Washington's broader approach to the conflict remains difficult to discern.
Heather Conley, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) and a former senior State Department official, said "it's not clear if the US is willing to place pressure, more pressure on Russia," citing confusion over a Russian sanctions bill currently on an uncertain course in the US Congress and uncertainty over potential licensing of the production of Patriot missiles to Ukraine.
"There's just a lack of clarity right now on on how the US is planning to proceed," she added.