Putin holds Ukraine talks with US envoys

Russian President Vladimir Putin held approximately three hours of late-night talks with US envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff in the Kremlin on Saturday. These talks aimed to conclude the four-year war between Russia and Ukraine. US President Donald Trump's son-in-law Kushner and business associate Witkoff presented a proposal to end the fighting.

The talks concluded after just over three hours, past 11 PM in Moscow. The envoys are set to visit Kyiv, Ukraine's capital, for the first time on Sunday, as Washington attempts to resume US-led discussions to end Europe's most significant conflict since World War Two. Both Russia and Ukraine agreed not to attack each other's capitals for three days to facilitate the negotiations.

Before the closed-door talks commenced, Putin expressed gratitude to Trump for persistently attempting to end the war, despite its complexity. Russia had consistently asserted its intention to seize the remaining eastern part of Ukraine. Washington did not disclose whether its plan would involve Kyiv ceding territory. Upon arrival, the envoys were informed that Russia would guarantee their safety in Kyiv, a city Moscow has relentlessly targeted during the war.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed that Putin had issued a directive for a three-day ceasefire on strikes in Kyiv. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky agreed to refrain from striking Moscow during this period, as reported on social media. Both sides promised to abstain from strikes on each other's cities from Saturday through Monday.

In his televised remarks, Putin reiterated that Russia would ensure the envoys' safety in Kyiv. As of Saturday, Russian strikes had claimed three lives in the northeastern Kharkiv region, including a 19-year-old girl, an 11-year-old boy, and a 45-year-old man. Earlier, Russia launched an attack on Kyiv's suburbs and the Dnipro region, resulting in five fatalities.

Zelensky accused Moscow of attempting to hinder the US envoy's visit by targeting Kyiv's two airports and civilian locations overnight. This marks the first time that Witkoff and Kushner would meet Kyiv in talks, as Ukrainian airspace has been closed since the onset of the war.