AZE.US
Russia and Ukraine have announced a temporary reciprocal pause in attacks on Kyiv and Moscow as U.S. representatives Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner conduct a new diplomatic mission in the region.
Witkoff and Kushner arrived in Moscow on September 5 for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin. They are expected to travel to Kyiv on September 6 for their first meeting in the Ukrainian capital.
Putin ordered Russian forces not to strike Kyiv for three days beginning at midnight Saturday. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukraine would refrain from attacking Moscow through Monday and expected Russia to reciprocate.
The arrangement is not a comprehensive ceasefire. It applies specifically to attacks against the two capitals, while fighting and military operations elsewhere continue.
U.S. Envoys Begin Moscow Talks
Russian presidential envoy Kirill Dmitriev met the American delegation upon its arrival.
U.S. President Donald Trump said Washington had developed a new and concrete proposal for ending the war, but he did not disclose its terms.
The Kremlin has said Russia’s fundamental conditions remain unchanged. Moscow and Kyiv continue to hold sharply different positions on occupied territory, Ukraine’s security guarantees and its future relationship with NATO.
SBU Headquarters Struck Before Visit
The diplomatic mission follows a Russian drone strike on the headquarters of Ukraine’s Security Service, or SBU, in central Kyiv.
Ukrainian authorities reported that 12 people were injured. Zelenskyy said the drone had targeted the office of the SBU chief, although that claim has not been independently verified.
Russia also attacked the Kyiv and Boryspil airports before the American visit. Ukraine said Russia launched missiles and 167 drones overnight, while attacks in the Dnipropetrovsk region killed workers at an industrial facility.
Russia reported intercepting 53 Ukrainian drones during the same period.
The temporary pause provides a security window for the American mission, but it does not yet indicate that Moscow and Kyiv have narrowed their differences over the terms of a possible peace agreement.
AZE.US