US envoys arrive in Moscow and Kyiv as Russia and Ukraine pause airstrikes for three-day peace push

Diplomatic mission in Moscow and Kyiv

United States special envoy Steve Witkoff and presidential adviser Jared Kushner arrived in Moscow on 5 September 2026 to open fresh discussions on ending the war in Ukraine. The American delegation, accompanied upon arrival by Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev, met with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday afternoon before scheduled talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv on Sunday. The mission marks the first direct meeting between these White House negotiators and the Ukrainian president, following several previous rounds with Russian officials.

Opening the Moscow discussions, Putin noted the difficulty of the diplomatic task before passing greetings to United States President Donald Trump.

The situation with which we are going to deal today is not, of course, easy.

Three-day mutual strike suspension

To facilitate the diplomatic mission, both governments declared a 72-hour suspension of airstrikes running from midnight on 5 September to 8 September. Kremlin press secretary Dmitri Peskov announced that Putin ordered Russian forces to halt attacks against Kyiv for three days to ensure secure conditions for the American contacts. Zelensky subsequently announced a reciprocal pause on Ukrainian strikes targeting Moscow and other cities involved in the talks.

From this moment, we are ready to respect a ceasefire in air attacks against the cities involved in the negotiation process.

Zelensky stated that Ukraine would secure its airspace to allow the United States delegation to fly directly into the country. Ukrainian airspace has remained closed to civil aviation since the start of the full-scale Russian invasion on 24 February 2022, requiring foreign delegations to travel by road or rail.

Pre-truce strikes and regional casualties

Both militaries carried out strikes in the hours preceding the declared truce. Zelensky reported Russian bombardments against the airports of Kyiv and Boryspil, describing the actions as an attempt to disrupt the arrival of the American aircraft. The Russian Ministry of Defence reported that its forces struck three vessels in the port of Chornomorsk and another ship near Odesa.

Casualties were also reported in eastern Ukraine. Russian-installed governor Leonid Pasechnik stated that Ukrainian strikes over the preceding 24 hours in the Russian-occupied Luhansk region killed five people and injured five others. According to Pasechnik, an attack in Brianka killed a 23-year-old woman and her 63-year-old mother, a drone strike killed a 35-year-old man, an explosion in the Krasnodon district killed a 14-year-old boy and injured a 13-year-old, and a mine blast in Lysychansk killed a 29-year-old tractor driver.

Stalled negotiations and diplomatic background

The diplomatic push follows a prolonged deadlock in negotiations, which have been stalled since February 2026. On Friday, the Kremlin reaffirmed its long-standing demands that Ukraine cede all territory across four claimed regions and formally renounce its bid to join NATO. Trump indicated on Friday that Washington prepared a new proposal to resolve the conflict, though details have not been released publicly.

The visit takes place one year after Trump met Putin in Alaska in August 2025 without securing a settlement. Washington has also taken steps to reintegrate Moscow into multilateral forums, including an invitation to Russian representatives to attend G20 finance ministers meetings held in North Carolina during the final week of August 2026.