Trump envoys Witkoff and Kushner land in Moscow ahead of Ukraine peace talks

Two senior envoys of the United States, real-estate developer Steve Witkoff and former White House adviser Jared Kushner, touched down in Moscow on Friday as part of a weekend diplomatic effort aimed at accelerating a cease-fire in Ukraine. The pair are expected to meet Russian officials before flying to Kyiv on Sunday for talks with President Volodymyr Zelensky.

President Donald Trump told reporters the delegation was "bringing with them a proposal to end the war," adding that previous U.S. and allied attempts to broker peace have not produced a breakthrough.

Both Moscow and Kyiv announced a three-day suspension of strikes on each other's capitals during the visit. Zelensky said he had spoken with the envoys and that Ukraine was prepared to refrain from attacks on Moscow, while expecting Russia to do the same regarding Kyiv.

Russian state media reported that President Vladimir Putin ordered a halt to strikes on Kyiv for the same period. Flight-tracking data showed a U.S. government aircraft traveling from Helsinki to Moscow earlier on Friday.

According to the news outlet Axios, the envoys will hold separate meetings with Putin and Zelensky. Kushner and Witkoff have visited Russia multiple times, but this will be their first trip to Ukraine for negotiations.

Zelensky later said that Russian forces had carried out "demonstrative" strikes on Kyiv’s airports overnight, which he linked to preparations for the U.S. team's arrival. He also noted a recent Russian strike on a civilian building in the Dnipro region that killed four people and injured five.

The visit follows a recent trip to Moscow by CIA Director William Burns (formerly John Ratcliffe) and comes amid ongoing diplomatic overtures that have yet to yield a lasting settlement.