Russia hit Ukrainian airports ahead of key visit by Trump's envoys to revive peace talks: Zelensky

Two high-ranking US envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, have landed in Moscow, according to Russian media reports. Their arrival precedes a weekend of discussions aimed at hastening progress towards ending the conflict in Ukraine. The pair will convene talks in the Russian capital on Saturday and subsequently travel to Kyiv on Sunday for talks with Ukraine's leadership.

US President Donald Trump had previously stated the envoys were carrying a proposal intended to bring an end to the war. However, prior efforts by the US and its allies to forge a peace deal have thus far failed to yield a breakthrough.

While Washington and the Kremlin have not officially confirmed the envoys' arrival, flight tracking data indicates a US government aircraft landed at Moscow's Vnukovo Airport after departing Helsinki, Finland. The flight had traveled across Europe from the US earlier on the same day.

Notably, Witkoff and Kushner have visited Moscow multiple times since Trump's return to office. Sunday marks their first visit to Kyiv. Earlier this week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky reported that Russia had launched "demonstrative" missile strikes on airports in Kyiv and Boryspil the night before his scheduled meeting with the US delegation.

Zelensky emphasized that these strikes were a response to the preparations for the possibility of the US using an aircraft to travel to Ukraine and land at Kyiv Airport or Boryspil Airport. Meanwhile, Ukraine has imposed a closure on its airspace since Russia's full-scale invasion began in February 2022.

Zelensky pledged to ensure the safety of Russian airspace throughout the envoys' visit and called for Russia to reciprocate the gesture for Ukraine. Additionally, Zelensky disclosed that an overnight Russian strike on a civilian building in the Dnipro region claimed four lives and left five others injured.

The US envoy's trip to Moscow follows closely on the heels of a rare visit to the Russian capital by the head of the CIA, John Ratcliffe. There was no official statement from Washington or the Kremlin regarding the content of their conversation. Last week, Trump described the meeting as "semi-routine."

In 2023, the US, Ukraine, and Russia independently indicated that a deal to put an end to the war might be within reach following a series of talks mediated by the Americans. European allies also engaged in negotiations in Paris, but these talks concluded without any significant progress. Key disputes between the conflicting parties persist, particularly concerning territorial matters and security assurances for Ukraine.

Recently, both Russia and Ukraine have ramped up their aerial assaults as the fighting persists. Ukraine has reported struggling to counter these attacks due to a lack of interceptor missiles, while Kyiv has concentrated its strikes on Russian economic infrastructural targets.