Putin and Zelenskyy Halt Strikes on Capitals During Visit by U.S. Envoys
Russia and Ukraine have paused strikes on each other’s capitals while two American envoys meet Vladimir Putin in Moscow and prepare to travel to Kyiv, even as deadly Russian attacks continue elsewhere in Ukraine.
Russia and Ukraine have stopped striking each other’s capitals during talks with two visiting American envoys, creating a narrow pause in attacks on Kyiv and Moscow while the wider war continues.
Russian President Vladimir Putin met in Moscow with U.S. businessmen Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. Putin said the Russian army has refrained from striking Kyiv since shortly after midnight on Saturday, after a proposal reached him through intelligence channels. A separate report said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy agreed to pause Ukrainian strikes on Moscow during the talks with the U.S. envoys.
Witkoff and Kushner are due to travel to Ukraine on 6 September for talks with Zelenskyy. Their trip faces a practical obstacle: Russian forces have damaged both airports usually used by American diplomats, complicating how the envoys can enter and leave the country.
Putin told Witkoff and Kushner that Russia is comfortable working with them and that the level of trust on the Russian side in this process is high. This indicates that the Kremlin sees value in this channel, even as it has not agreed to a broader ceasefire.
While fighting over the capitals paused, Russian attacks continued elsewhere. In Zaporizhzhia, strikes on residential buildings caused fires and injuries. In the Kharkiv region, in the town of Chuhuiv, a Russian drone hit a private house, killing three people — an 11‑year‑old boy, a 19‑year‑old woman and a 45‑year‑old man — and injuring a 40‑year‑old woman.
The pause over Kyiv and Moscow shows that both sides can choose to limit targets when they see benefit in doing so, but the deaths in places like Chuhuiv and Zaporizhzhia underline that there is no general protection for civilians.
What will matter next is whether the pause on strikes against the two capitals is extended, allowed to expire once the envoys leave, or linked by either side to specific conditions in the wider war.
Sources
- OSINT