Putin orders a 72-hour pause in strikes on Kyiv as U.S. envoys visit Russia and Ukraine

Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a 72-hour pause in strikes on Kyiv, the Kremlin said Saturday, as U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner arrived in Moscow to try to revive a stalled push to end Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a 72-hour pause in strikes on Kyiv, the Kremlin said Saturday, as U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner arrived in Moscow to try to revive a stalled push to end Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

“Putin has ordered that no strikes be carried out against Kyiv for three days, starting at midnight today,” presidential spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told Russia’s Tass news agency. He said the decision was tied to preparations for Witkoff and Kushner’s planned visit to the Ukrainian capital, which Kyiv has said will take place on Sunday.

Peskov also confirmed that Kushner and Witkoff would meet Putin during their visit, but said there was “no talk of new ideas” to end the conflict.

The envoys’ trip comes as both sides escalate aerial attacks, more than four years after the Kremlin’s invasion of its neighbor. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Friday that Ukraine would halt airstrikes during the envoys’ visit and urged Moscow to do the same.

Washington’s push to end the fighting, now in its fifth year, has lost momentum as U.S. attention has been focused for the last six months on its war with Iran.