Witkoff and Kushner land in Moscow with Trump peace plan — SkimNews
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- Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner landed in Moscow on Saturday Sep 4 with what Trump called 'a proposal to end the war,' and are expected to head to Kyiv on Sunday for their first visit since Trump returned to office — a trip requiring a plane into closed Ukrainian airspace, instead of the usual train.
- Vladimir Putin told the envoys that US-Russia contacts were 'always beneficial' and Russia found it convenient to work with them, with Witkoff saying Trump sent his best wishes and thanked Putin for the ceasefire; Putin pledged Russia would ensure the mediators' safety.
- Russia and Ukraine both committed to a strike moratorium on each other's capitals — Kremlin spokesman Peskov said Putin ordered no strikes on Kyiv for three days from midnight Saturday, and Zelensky pledged no strikes on Moscow through Monday.
- Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russia of trying to sabotage the visit with overnight strikes on Kyiv's two airports and a civilian target in Kamianske (Dnipro region) that killed five people — strikes he linked to the US team's planned air travel.
- The Kremlin declared its position that Ukraine cede four claimed regions and abandon its NATO bid remains 'unshakeable,' framing the gap that has blocked talks since February, while both sides' long-range missile and drone attacks have pushed civilian casualties to levels not seen since the war began.
- Just hours before Trump's announcement, a Russian drone struck the SBU security service headquarters in central Kyiv — the first strike on that building since the start of Russia's offensive — underscoring the military campaign racing alongside the diplomatic one.
Why it matters: The three-day capital strike moratorium buys de-escalation space while envoys shuttle between Moscow and Kyiv, but Russia's 'unshakeable' terms — Ukraine cedes four regions and drops its NATO bid — recreate the impasse that stalled February talks. Both sides' intensified long-range strikes, including the first-ever drone hit on the SBU HQ, show the military and diplomatic tracks racing in parallel.
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