Putin orders 72-hour pause in strikes on Kyiv as U.S. envoys visit Russia and Ukraine
Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered a 72-hour pause in strikes on Kyiv as U.S. envoys visit Moscow and Ukraine for peace talks. The diplomatic effort comes amid stalled progress in the ongoing conflict.
Why it matters
This represents a rare diplomatic window in the Russia-Ukraine war involving high-level U.S. mediation.
The envoys' visit came as both sides escalated aerial attacks. Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy both agreed to pause strikes on each other's capitals while the talks took place.
Washington's push to end the fighting has lost momentum as U.S. attention has been focused for the past six months on the Iran war. The last known visit to Moscow by Witkoff and Kushner, U.S. President Donald Trump's son-in-law, was in January, when they also held talks with Putin at the Kremlin.
Both U.S. envoys will also visit Ukraine's capital, Kyiv, for the first time in the peace process on Sunday, Ukrainian officials said.
At the start of the meeting in Moscow, Putin asked Kushner and Witkoff to pass on his warm wishes and gratitude to Trump, and described the situation in Ukraine as "not simple." Russian forces launched an all-out invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022.
Get smarter about the news
Sign up free for a feed built around what you actually care about, Dive Deeper research on any story, and the full text of every article.
Create free accountAlready have an account? Sign in