Putin Orders Three-Day Pause in Kyiv Strikes as US Envoys Arrive

Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a three-day halt to strikes on Kyiv, starting Saturday, September 5, 2026.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated the decision was tied to preparations for a visit by a US delegation. US special representatives Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner landed in Moscow on Saturday for talks on the war in Ukraine. Russian presidential envoy Kirill Dmitriev met them at Vnukovo Airport. A motorcade carrying Witkoff, Kushner, and Dmitriev left the governmental airport for the city.

President Donald Trump suggested on Friday that the US had a fresh concrete proposal aimed at ending the war, now in its fifth year. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the two men would fly to Ukraine on Sunday after visiting Moscow. This trip marks their first visit to Kyiv. Dmitriev told Reuters in June that he had remained in contact with the US negotiators during a pause in their visits to Russia.

He also participated in all their previous meetings with Putin and played a role in negotiating US sanction waivers for Russian oil this year. The last known visit to Moscow by Witkoff and Kushner was in January, when they met Putin at the Kremlin. Washington's push to end the fighting has lost momentum as US attention focused for the past six months on its war with Iran.

Putin's deputy foreign minister, Sergei Ryabkov, warned the US to consider the realities on the ground, stating the situation was not developing in Kyiv's favor. Zelensky announced Russia carried out deliberate strikes on Ukrainian airports overnight in Kyiv and Boryspil, linking them to the US envoys' travel plans. Zelensky had committed to pausing airstrikes for the talks and urged Russia to reciprocate. Kremlin spokesman Peskov dismissed the prospect of new proposals to end the war, saying there was no talk of new ideas.