These negotiations were held ahead of the first envoy visit to Kyiv, which is expected to take place on Sunday.
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Both Russia and Ukraine promised during the talks not to strike each other’s capitals for three days, as Washington tries to revive US-led negotiations aimed at ending the bloodiest conflict in Europe since World War II.
US President Donald Trump earlier stated that his envoys are carrying a “proposal to end the war.”
“Dear colleagues, I sincerely welcome you in Moscow. The situation, of course, is not simple,” said V. Putin to the envoys in the ornate Kremlin hall, as seen in a video broadcast by Russian television.
“But before we start addressing it, I would like to ask everyone to convey my best wishes and words of thanks to US President Mr. Trump,” said V. Putin.
The talks are taking place at a time when civilian casualties and attacks have significantly increased this summer in this protracted war. V. Putin has repeatedly said that Moscow intends to take control of the remaining part of Eastern Ukraine.
Hundreds of thousands of people have died in this war started by Russia in 2022, and millions have been forced to leave their homes.
Ukrainian officials reported that at least seven people were killed on Saturday in Russian strikes in Ukraine, including in the Kyiv suburbs.
The Kremlin stated that it will not strike Kyiv from midnight Saturday, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced that “from now” until Monday, strikes on Moscow will be halted.
“The Russian president, the supreme commander, has given the order not to carry out any strikes on Kyiv for three days starting from midnight today,” said Kremlin press secretary Dmitry Peskov.
V. Zelensky, who had proposed a ceasefire during the US envoys’ visits, later reported that he spoke with the US envoys and also promised that Kyiv will not strike Moscow.
“From now until the end of Saturday, as well as Sunday and Monday, Ukraine is ready to refrain from strikes on Moscow,” V. Zelensky wrote on social media.
The Ukrainian leader said he spoke with US officials and is expecting them in Kyiv on Sunday.
Earlier, Russia struck the Kyiv suburbs, and V. Zelensky accused Moscow of trying to disrupt the envoys’ visit by striking two Kyiv airports at night, as well as civilian targets in the Dnipro region, where five people were killed.
The head of the Kyiv regional military administration, Tymur Tkachenko, reported that two people were killed in the Bucha district outside Kyiv.
First visit to Kyiv
“It is obvious that these Russian strikes on airports are a reaction to discussions and preparations for the possibility that the US side may use a plane to travel to Ukraine,” V. Zelensky wrote on the social network X.
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This will be the first visit to war-torn Kyiv by D. Trump’s businessman friend S. Witkoff and son-in-law J. Kushner since the Republican returned to the US presidency last January, promising to resolve this conflict.
A trip to Kyiv by plane would be a very unusual step, as Ukraine’s airspace has been closed since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022. Leaders and officials visiting Kyiv usually travel by train.
The envoys are expected in Kyiv on Sunday, a senior Ukrainian official told the AFP news agency.
D. Trump told journalists that both negotiators will seek to assess whether progress toward peace in this conflict is possible.
Peace efforts are stalled – partly due to Washington’s war with Iran, while Moscow and Kyiv have intensified long-range attacks, causing civilian casualties to rise to levels unseen since the start of hostilities.
“I sent Witkoff and Kushner, two great negotiators. They did a great job, and we sent them to see if something can be achieved. We might have good chances to do so,” said D. Trump.
“They are carrying a proposal to end the war,” he said.
The US president did not reveal whether this plan involves ceding Ukrainian territories, as he had hinted earlier, but added: “We have an idea for peace.”
S. Witkoff and J. Kushner, who participated in ceasefire negotiations in Gaza and Iran, have visited Moscow several times.
Exhausting war
The new diplomatic push comes as Russia and Ukraine shell each other with long-range missiles and drones.
On Friday, just hours before D. Trump’s announcement, a Russian drone struck the headquarters of Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) in central Kyiv.
This strike, which according to V. Zelensky was aimed at the office of the service’s acting head, was the first attack on its headquarters since the invasion began.
Meanwhile, during the night into Saturday, a Russian strike in the city of Kamianske in the southeast of the country killed four people and injured five more, reported Oleksandr Hanža, head of the Dnipropetrovsk regional military administration.
S. Witkoff and J. Kushner’s trip comes more than a week after a rare visit by Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Director John Ratcliffe to Moscow, during which, according to US media, he warned Russia against any attack on NATO member states.
Earlier this week, the US hosted Russia’s finance minister at a G20 meeting in North Carolina.
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