by Stefan J. Bos, Worthy News Europe Bureau Chief
MOSCOW/KYIV/BUDAPEST (Worthy News) – Two of U.S. President Donald J. Trump’s top envoys arrived in rainy Moscow on Saturday carrying what he described as a proposal to end Russia’s war against Ukraine, following another round of deadly Russian missile and drone strikes.
U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner were due to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin before traveling to Kyiv on Sunday for discussions with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
They landed at Moscow’s Vnukovo Airport, where Russian presidential envoy Kirill Dmitriev welcomed them.
Trump said Friday that Witkoff and Kushner were “bringing with them a proposal to end the war,” after previous U.S.-led diplomatic efforts failed to produce a breakthrough.
PUTIN ORDERS KYIV STRIKE PAUSE
The Kremlin said Putin ordered Russian forces not to strike Kyiv for three days beginning at midnight Saturday in connection with the U.S. delegation’s planned visit to the Ukrainian capital.
However, fighting and Russian attacks continued elsewhere, underscoring the challenges facing the latest diplomatic initiative.
Zelensky accused Russia of carrying out what he called “demonstrative” strikes overnight against airports in Kyiv and nearby Boryspil shortly before the American envoys arrived in Moscow.
He suggested the attacks were linked to discussions about the possibility of the U.S. delegation flying directly into Ukraine.
ZELENSKY OFFERS SAFETY
Ukraine’s airspace has been closed to regular civilian aviation since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.
Zelensky pledged Ukraine would refrain from airstrikes during the U.S. envoys’ diplomatic mission and urged Moscow to do the same.
The Ukrainian leader said the attacks came despite Kyiv’s efforts to create conditions for the American peace mission.
Russia launched ballistic missiles and scores of drones at Ukraine overnight, according to Ukrainian authorities.
DEADLY RUSSIAN STRIKES
Russian strikes also killed at least six people and injured 10 in Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region on Saturday, according to Ukrainian authorities.
Five people were reported killed in a ballistic missile strike on an industrial facility in Kamianske, while additional attacks elsewhere in the region caused further casualties.
The violence came a day after a Russian drone struck the headquarters of Ukraine’s SBU security service in central Kyiv, one of the most prominent government targets hit during the war.
Despite the renewed diplomacy, Moscow and Kyiv remain deeply divided over the terms of any peace settlement.
DEEP DIVISIONS REMAIN
Russia has demanded that Ukraine surrender the entire territory of four regions claimed by Moscow and abandon its ambitions to join the NATO military alliance.
Ukraine has rejected demands it views as effectively requiring surrender and insists that any settlement must protect its sovereignty and provide credible security guarantees. The Kremlin said Friday that Putin’s position on those demands remained “unshakeable.”
Saturday’s diplomatic push comes just over a week after U.S. Central Intelligence Agency Director John Ratcliffe made a rare visit to Moscow. Neither Washington nor the Kremlin disclosed details of those discussions, which Trump described as “semi-routine.”
Witkoff and Kushner have visited Moscow several times during attempts to negotiate an end to the armed conflict, but Sunday’s planned journey would mark their first visit to Kyiv.
Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, escalating a conflict that began in 2014 with Moscow’s annexation of Crimea and Russian-backed fighting in eastern Ukraine.
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