MOSCOW — U.S. special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner met Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin on Saturday, Sept. 5, 2026, as both sides worked a short pause in strikes on each other’s capitals ahead of the Americans’ planned stop in Kyiv on Sunday, the BBC and the Guardian reported.

Kremlin footage showed Putin greeting the envoys. He said the current situation “is not so easy,” that Russia would explain “how we see the situation,” and that “in any case, whatever happens, such contacts are undoubtedly always useful,” thanking President Donald Trump for peacemaking efforts, according to the BBC. Russian state media said the talks at Putin’s official residence lasted about three hours. Witkoff thanked Putin for agreeing with Ukraine to halt strikes on each other’s capitals for three days, the BBC reported.

Earlier Saturday, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov told TASS that Putin had ordered no strikes on Kyiv for three days starting at midnight, linked to preparations for the envoys’ Kyiv visit, and said there was “no talk of new ideas” to end the conflict, the Associated Press reported via earlier wires. Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev met the U.S. delegation at Vnukovo Airport with a “Welcome to Moscow Peacemakers” post. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he had spoken to the envoys, who had “already begun working with the Russian side today,” and that he expected them in Kyiv on Sunday — their first mediation visit to the capital.

On Friday, Trump said Witkoff and Kushner were “bringing with them a proposal to end the war.” Zelenskyy also said overnight Russian strikes hit Kyiv and Boryspil airports and framed them as a reaction to plans for a U.S. aircraft to land in Ukraine. This piece updates our earlier arrival/72-hour-pause reporting as the Kremlin meeting began.

Sources