Witkoff and Kushner Land in Moscow as Russia Hits Kyiv Airports

US envoys Witkoff and Kushner arrived in Moscow carrying a peace proposal, as Russia struck two airports near Kyiv ahead of their planned Sunday visit.

US special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, President Trump's son-in-law, arrived in Moscow on Saturday, September 5, where Kremlin envoy Kirill Dmitriev met them at Vnukovo airport. A Reuters witness saw a motorcade carrying Witkoff, Kushner and Dmitriev leave the governmental airport toward the city. Trump said Friday the pair were bringing "a proposal to end the war" in its fifth year, calling them "great negotiators" and adding "there may be a good chance we will do it."

The diplomacy is unfolding under fire. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia struck two airports near Kyiv overnight — including Boryspil, which once handled international flights — calling the attacks "deliberate" and a reaction to discussions about the American delegation possibly arriving in Ukraine by aircraft. Since the war began, foreign leaders have typically traveled to Kyiv by rail from Poland, and it is unclear whether the strikes will alter the envoys' plans.

Ukraine reportedly ordered its units to halt fighting from September 5 to 8 to enable the diplomatic visits, and Zelensky said Ukraine would hold off air strikes while the envoys traveled, calling on Moscow to do the same. Russia rejected a truce and kept attacking: the Kyiv Independent reports Russian attacks killed 7 people and injured at least 51 across Ukraine over the past day, including four killed in a strike on Kamianske in the Dnipropetrovsk region.

The arrival came amid near-constant strikes on the capital. Zelensky announced a Russian drone hit the headquarters of Ukraine's SBU security service in central Kyiv on Friday — the 10th consecutive day of heavy attacks on the capital, according to Reuters reporting carried by The Moscow Times and The Jerusalem Post — injuring at least 12 people per the Kyiv Independent, and vowed a "tangible" mirrored response. Zelensky has also warned of an acute shortage of air defense interceptors leaving Ukraine vulnerable to ballistic missiles.

The Kremlin said Friday that Putin's long-standing position — that Ukraine must cede the entire territory of four regions Russia claims and abandon NATO membership — remains "unshakeable," and Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told state media TASS that Washington must accept "realities on the ground" where the situation is "changing not in Kyiv's favor." Front lines have stayed largely static, with Russia making gradual gains toward the Donbas industrial belt while Ukraine's refinery strikes fuel shortages inside Russia.

Zelensky has confirmed the envoys are expected in Kyiv on Sunday, September 6, their first visit to the Ukrainian capital since Trump returned to office. "We need to look for realistic options on how to bring this war to an end," he said Friday, adding that Ukraine would "see what proposals Steve and Jared bring and what they are told in Moscow in response." He warned that after next week Ukraine would adjust its operations regarding Russian airspace, where drone activity has already effectively closed skies to civil aviation.