US envoys arrive in Moscow with peace proposal, due in Kyiv on Sunday

Why it matters

The visit marks the first US envoy trip to Kyiv since Trump returned to office and is framed by Washington as a new push to end the war. Both sides publicly tied temporary restraint on strikes against each other's capitals to the mediation, though Russia continued striking Ukrainian infrastructure and frontline areas during the same window, complicating the diplomatic optics.

What happened

US special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner arrived at Moscow's Vnukovo Airport on Saturday, September 5, where they were met by Russian diplomat Kirill Dmitriev. Flight-tracking data showed the US government plane had travelled from Helsinki, where it had arrived from the United States earlier in the day. President Donald Trump said the two envoys were carrying a proposal to end the war in Ukraine. After talks in Moscow, they were scheduled to travel to Kyiv on Sunday, September 6 — their first visit to the Ukrainian capital since Trump returned to office and the first since Russia's full-scale invasion began in February 2022.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke with Witkoff and Kushner on Saturday afternoon and said US representatives had already begun work with the Russian side. Zelensky announced Ukraine would refrain from strikes on Moscow from Saturday through Monday and called on Russia to reciprocate by halting strikes on Kyiv. The Kremlin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Vladimir Putin had ordered no strikes on Kyiv for three days starting at midnight on Sunday, citing the US visit.

Despite the announced pauses, Zelensky said Russia carried out 'demonstrative' overnight strikes on Kyiv and Boryspil airports ahead of the planned US delegation meeting, characterising them as a reaction to preparations for the envoys' arrival. He also reported that an overnight Russian strike on a civilian building in the Dnipro region killed four people and injured five others. Zelensky approved the plan for diplomatic events in Kyiv on Sunday and received briefings from Defence Minister Yevhenii Khmara and Commander-in-Chief Mykhailo Drapatyi on the frontline situation and air-space threats. Kyiv had earlier said Witkoff and Kushner's repeated Moscow visits without a corresponding Kyiv visit amounted to disrespect.

How Ukrainian sources describe it

Ukrainian sources center Zelensky's announcement of reciprocal non-strike commitments and stress that Kyiv expects Moscow to mirror the step. They highlight Russia's continued attacks — including 'demonstrative' strikes on Kyiv and Boryspil airports and an overnight strike in the Dnipro region that killed civilians — as evidence that Moscow is undermining the diplomatic gesture. Ukrainian outlets frame the envoys' previous multiple Moscow visits without a Kyiv visit as 'disrespect' and note that Ukraine had already initiated a 'silence regime' along the contact line that Russia refused to match. The Ukrainian General Staff said combat operations continued on the frontline because a ceasefire cannot be unilateral, and several Ukrainian military personnel told Radio Liberty of a ban on striking targets deeper than 50 km from September 5 through September 8.

How international sources describe it

International outlets lead with the arrival of the US envoys in Moscow and their planned travel to Kyiv as a new US push to end the war, with Trump quoted saying the envoys are carrying a proposal. They treat the Kremlin's announcement of a three-day pause on strikes against Kyiv as a concrete, named concession tied to the US mediation, and they note the logistical details — the US plane routing via Helsinki and the greeting by Kirill Dmitriev at Vnukovo. They place the visit within a sequence of recent US-Russia contacts, including CIA Director John Ratcliffe's prior Moscow trip, with no official readout from Washington or the Kremlin on what was discussed.

Where reporting differs

Ukrainian and Russian sides describe overlapping but different restraint measures. The Ukrainian General Staff and Zelensky said Russia continued combat operations and refused a temporary ceasefire covering September 5–9, while the Kremlin's Peskov announced a three-day suspension of strikes on Kyiv starting at midnight on September 6. Zelensky characterised Russia's overnight strikes on Kyiv and Boryspil airports as a deliberate 'demonstrative' reaction to preparations for the US delegation, while the Russian messaging framed the visit itself as the reason to pause strikes, casting the same events in opposing terms. Kyiv also framed the envoys' repeated Moscow trips without a Kyiv stop as 'disrespect', a framing not echoed in international coverage.

Background

Ukraine's airspace has been closed since Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022. The Moscow leg of the trip came just over a week after a rare visit by CIA Director John Ratcliffe to Moscow, with no official readout from Washington or the Kremlin on what was discussed. Russia and Ukraine are reported to remain apart on core issues including territory and security guarantees for Ukraine.