Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Sept 5: Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered three-day pause to strikes on Ukraine Kyiv as US delegation comprising Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner landed in Moscow to try to revive a stalled push to end Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
“Putin has ordered that no strikes be carried out against Kyiv for three days, starting at midnight today,” presidential spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told the media. He said the decision was tied to preparations for Mr Witkoff and Mr Kushner’s planned visit to the Ukrainian capital, which Kyiv has said would take place on Sunday.
The envoys’ trip comes as both sides escalate aerial attacks, some 4.5-years after the Kremlin invaded its neighbour. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Friday that Ukraine would halt airstrikes during the envoys’ visit and urged Moscow to do the same. “There will be no air strikes from our side, and Russia must mirror this by ensuring silence without its air strikes for the time needed to hold these negotiations and resolve the logistical issues associated with this American visit,” Zelenskyy had said proposing the ceasefire.
He further stated that Ukraine cared about the US envoys but “not Russia” adding that the country wants “real options” to bring an end to the war that has been continuing for four-and-a-half years. “We’ll see what proposals Steve and Jared have and what Moscow will say to them,” Zelenskyy wrote on X.
He said, “Today, it has been clearly established that US envoys will be in Ukraine and Russia in the coming days. We have the details from the U.S. President’s team. We discussed today that Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner will visit Moscow and then Kyiv on Sunday. We are preparing for the visit. Just as we did during previous diplomatic visits by the American side, we will ensure the normal functioning of Russian airspace so that the negotiators can arrive safely. We are looking out for them, not for Russia.
“There will be no air strikes from our side, and Russia must do the same, ensuring there are no air strikes from its side for the time needed to hold these talks and handle the logistical matters related to this American visit. Our goal is to make the visit and the talks with the U.S. side as constructive and substantive as possible. We need to look for real options for how to move this war toward an end. We will see what proposals Steve and Jared bring and what they are told in Moscow in response.”
Zelenskyy’s proposal for ceasefire comes on a day when Russia conducted a midday airstrike on Ukraine’s intelligence service headquarters, which the Ukrainian President said had targeted the intelligence chief’s office.
Washington’s push to end the fighting, now in its fifth year, has lost momentum as U.S. attention has been focused for the last six months on its war with Iran. The last known visit to Moscow by Mr Witkoff and Mr Kushner, U.S. President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, was in January, when they met Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin. They had never previously visited Kyiv.
The envoys were met at the airport by Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev. Mr Dmitriev shared photos of him meeting the U.S. delegation as they disembarked, alongside the caption, “Welcome to Moscow Peacemakers.” With peace efforts stalled, Russia has intensified its attacks on Kyiv and other cities with relentless bombardments recently stretching into daylight hours, taking advantage of Ukraine’s shortage of air defence systems.
On Friday, a Russian drone hit one of the most important government buildings in Kyiv — the headquarters of Ukraine’s Security Service, known as the SBU, which is one of the agencies involved in carrying out deep-strike operations inside Russia. The long-range strikes by Ukraine have hit Russian military facilities, oil refineries and e-commerce hubs, seeking to undermine the Kremlin’s war effort and economy, as well as make ordinary citizens feel the consequences of the war.
The air war between Russia and Ukraine has intensified as troops have struggled to make progress along the 1,250-kilometre front line. Russia has recently been using fast-flying, jet-powered drones, and the recurring wail of air-raid sirens has become part of daily life in Kyiv.
Meanwhile in the West Asia, the US forces struck three Iranian crude oil tankers on Saturday after the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) launched ballistic missiles at two US Navy warships that were patrolling regional waters, the US Central Command said.
In a post on X, the US Central Command said the aircraft carrier and guided-missile destroyer successfully avoided “multiple unprovoked Iranian attacks.” After Iran’s attempted attacks, US forces destroyed two IRGC crude oil tankers called M/T Downy and M/T Stark 1 off the coast of Kharg Island and near Jask. Another tanker that was not loaded was also disabled in the Gulf of Oman.
No US personnel were harmed during the attacks, Central Command said. The three tankers were a part of a multibillion-dollar shadow network that funds the IRGC and its proxies. Admiral Brad Cooper, the Central Command commander, said the US army would not hesitate to defend itself and if necessary, it can destroy Iran’s “exposed” oil fleet.
“Let the message to the IRGC be clear: If you shoot at two of our ships, we will impose an even higher economic cost -taking out three of yours,” said Cooper. “We will not hesitate to defend American forces, and if necessary, destroy Iran’s limited and exposed oil fleet”, he added.
Earlier in the day, Iran accused the US of attacking an Iranian tanker near Kharg Island in the Persian Gulf, Iranian media reports said quoting local sources and claiming that there were no casualties and the tanker’s crew was being evacuated.