Putin orders three-day halt to strikes on Kyiv for US envoys' visit

Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered a three-day halt to strikes against Kyiv, a move linked to preparations for contacts with US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Saturday.

"The meeting with President Putin will indeed take place, and there will be talks. As a rule, such meetings have been quite lengthy in the past. Let us wait and see. We will certainly keep you informed," Peskov told journalists.

Peskov also urged against making predictions about settlement proposals and called for waiting for the outcome of Putin's meeting with the US negotiators.

Witkoff and Kushner landed at Moscow's Vnukovo Airport at 12:52 p.m. local time (0952 GMT) on Saturday. They were welcomed at the airport by Russia's special presidential envoy Kirill Dmitriev.

Peskov's statement came hours after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said earlier in the day that Russia had struck airports in Kyiv and its southeastern suburb of Boryspil overnight.

"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 and land at Kyiv Airport or Boryspil Airport," Zelenskyy said in a post on X.

Zelenskyy said that Ukraine had taken note of the Russian move and would adjust its operations next week accordingly with regard to Russian airspace.

Zelenskyy also said on Thursday that he expected to meet Trump's envoys in the Ukrainian capital in the coming days.