US Envoys Visit Moscow, Kyiv in Renewed Peace Effort

U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner arrived in Moscow on Saturday to try to revive a stalled push to end Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, according to Russian state news outlets. The pair were met at the airport by Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev, according to Russia’s state news agency Tass. They are expected to travel to Kyiv on Sunday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed.

President Donald Trump told reporters on Friday that he had sent Witkoff and Kushner, whom he called “two great negotiators,” to see whether a peace deal could be reached. “We have an idea for peace,” Trump said. He suggested the U.S. had a “fresh concrete proposal” aimed at ending the war, without disclosing details.

Zelenskyy said on X that the envoys would visit Moscow and then Kyiv on Sunday. He added that Ukraine would ensure the normal functioning of Russian airspace so the negotiators could travel safely and would not carry out airstrikes from its side during the visit. Moscow did not publicly respond to that proposal.

The visit comes as both sides escalate their aerial attacks. On Friday, a Russian drone hit the headquarters of Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) in Kyiv, one of the most important government buildings in the capital. In a social media post on Saturday, Zelenskyy said Russia had carried out overnight strikes on Kyiv and Boryspil international airports, linking the attack to the planned U.S. visit. “Clearly, these Russian strikes on the airports are a reaction to the discussions and preparations for the possibility of the U.S. side using an aircraft to travel to Ukraine,” he wrote.

Russian attacks killed five people and wounded five more at an industrial facility in Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region, according to local military administration head Oleksandr Hanzha. Russia’s Ministry of Defense said it had carried out strikes on two metallurgical plants in the region, describing them as “major suppliers of metal products for Ukraine’s military production.” A further two people were wounded in an overnight Russian attack on Ukraine’s Kyiv region, according to Tymur Tkachenko, head of the regional military administration. Russian forces also repeatedly struck a shopping center in the Mykolaiv region with drones overnight, damaging retail premises and sparking fires, according to Ukraine’s state emergency services. A 72-year-old man and a 17-year-old girl were hurt in that strike, according to Ukraine’s state emergency services.

Ukraine’s air force said Russia launched ballistic missiles from its Rostov and Voronezh regions and deployed 167 attack drones overnight, including Shahed-type aircraft — around half of them jet-powered — as well as Geran and decoy drones. Ukrainian attacks wounded three people, including a 14-year-old girl, in Russia’s border region of Belgorod, according to local officials. Russia’s Ministry of Defense said its forces had shot down 53 Ukrainian drones overnight.

The peace effort has faced challenges as U.S. attention has shifted, according to reporting from Russian state news outlets. The envoys have not previously visited Kyiv, according to available information, and their last known visit to Moscow was in January, when they met Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin, as reported by Russian state news outlets.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday, when asked about the visit, “I wouldn't make any announcements right now, but we will inform you when these contacts take place.” He reiterated that Russia’s position on Ukraine ceding four regions and rescinding its NATO plans is “unshakeable.” Peskov said a “peace settlement could not be ruled out, but the necessary basis for this did not exist right now.”