President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia on Saturday met in Moscow with envoys of President Trump to debate the warfare in Ukraine, not lengthy after ordering a 72-hour pause in strikes on its capital, Kyiv, if not different elements of the nation.
The envoys — Steve Witkoff, Mr. Trump’s particular envoy, and Jared Kushner, his son-in-law — landed in Moscow on Saturday of their first journey to Russia since January. They’re anticipated to go subsequent to Kyiv in an effort to reignite U.S.-brokered talks to finish the warfare.
After greeting the Individuals, Mr. Putin hinted on the issue of their ambitions, saying, “the state of affairs we’ve to cope with right now is actually not easy.” However he additionally gestured towards heat relations with the White Home, including, “enable me to convey my finest needs and phrases of gratitude to the president of the USA, Mr. Trump.”
Mr. Kushner, in flip, greeted Mr. Putin by saying “blissful vacation” in Russian, referring to Moscow’s Metropolis Day, celebrated on Saturday.
The assembly, held on the Kremlin, lasted about three hours, in line with Russian state information companies.
Peace negotiations have been in a deep freeze since February, when the USA and Israel attacked Iran, setting off a battle that has consumed the Trump administration’s consideration.
Dmitri S. Peskov, the Kremlin’s spokesman, mentioned Mr. Putin had ordered Russia’s armed forces to chorus from attacking Kyiv for 3 days beginning on Saturday, saying, “That is related with the preparations for the conduct of talks of Individuals in Kyiv.”
Mr. Putin then asserted that Russia had not launched strikes towards Kyiv since 12 a.m. Saturday, although town got here underneath air-raid warnings round that hour and a number of other extra instances all through the day. Russian strikes elsewhere in Ukraine went on unabated.
Hours earlier, nevertheless, Ukraine was hit by a large-scale Russian assault that struck Kyiv’s two essential airports.
In a press release, President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine mentioned the strikes have been a Russian response to “discussions and preparations for the potential of the U.S. facet utilizing an plane to journey to Ukraine.” He vowed to retaliate towards Russian airspace subsequent week. All civilian airports in Ukraine have been closed since Russia invaded in 2022.
In a while Saturday, Mr. Zelensky mentioned that he had spoken with Mr. Witkoff and Mr. Kushner whereas they have been in Moscow, and that Ukraine would chorus from hanging Moscow by way of Monday.
The evening was uncharacteristically quiet all through Russia. Russian airports, which are sometimes pressured to droop operations due to Ukrainian assaults, have been working usually on Saturday morning. In Moscow, Mayor Sergei Sobyanin mentioned that no drones had been shot down on strategy to the capital.
The U.S. envoys’ go to to the Russian capital got here a bit of over per week after the C.I.A. director, John Ratcliffe, traveled there to ship a bleak evaluation of Moscow’s prospects within the warfare and to induce Russian officers to finish it.
Mr. Witkoff and Mr. Kushner have been met at Moscow’s Vnukovo Airport by Kirill Dmitriev, an envoy for Mr. Putin who handles casual negotiations with the White Home.
They then dined at an upscale restaurant in central Moscow, roughly a mile north of the Kremlin. Outdoors, a motorcade of a few dozen automobiles lined the busy road and a crowd of journalists waited for the delegation to emerge. Inscriptions on the restaurant’s glass facade learn: “All the things for Victory!”
Greater than three hours later, Mr. Kushner and Mr. Witkoff departed for the Kremlin, touring in a Russian-made Aurus limousine slightly than the customary U.S. Embassy automobile typical for such high-level diplomatic visits.
Mr. Witkoff has met commonly with Mr. Putin since Mr. Trump took workplace in January 2025. On the finish of that yr, Mr. Kushner started becoming a member of Mr. Witkoff for conferences with the Russian chief.
However the deliberate journey to Kyiv could be the primary by both American envoy, and it follows a shift within the warfare’s dynamics.
Since April, Ukraine has launched a marketing campaign focusing on Russian gasoline and logistics infrastructure, bringing the warfare nearer to unusual Russians.
Russia, for its half, has taken benefit of Ukraine’s depleted arsenal of air-defense interceptors, permitting it to strike extra targets throughout the nation and making each day life in Kyiv more and more harmful. On Friday, a drone hit the headquarters of Ukraine’s home intelligence service within the coronary heart of the capital.
Russia and Ukraine additionally face mounting monetary pressure to help a warfare that’s rising costlier, as either side battle to maintain tempo with superior applied sciences, like jet-powered drones and ballistic missiles.
However the warfare seems far-off from any decision.
Talking on Friday, Mr. Peskov praised “the nice will of the Individuals” who, he mentioned, “are able to proceed their mediation efforts.” However he mentioned Russia would maintain insisting that Ukraine withdraw troops from the japanese Donetsk and Luhansk areas earlier than any cease-fire might happen — a requirement that Ukraine has rejected.
Mr. Peskov’s feedback adopted statements on Thursday by Mr. Putin, who mentioned that no matter American mediation efforts, “Russia and Ukraine should first attain an settlement between themselves.”
Valerie Hopkins contributed reporting from Berlin, and Cassandra Vinograd from Kyiv, Ukraine.