Russian President Vladimir Putin received U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner at the Kremlin on Saturday for discussions aimed at reinvigorating a stalled initiative to bring the Russia-Ukraine conflict to an end.

The envoys’ arrival coincided with an intensification of aerial assaults on both sides.

Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy mutually consented to suspend strikes on each other’s capitals for the duration of the negotiations.

Washington’s campaign to bring an end to the hostilities has stalled, as U.S. attention over the past six months has been diverted to the conflict with Iran.

The most recent documented trip to Moscow by Witkoff and Kushner, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, occurred in January, during which they also engaged in discussions with Putin at the Kremlin.

Both U.S. envoys are scheduled to make their inaugural visit to Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, as part of the peace process on Sunday, according to Ukrainian officials.

At the outset of the meeting in Moscow, Putin asked Kushner and Witkoff to convey his warm regards and appreciation to Trump, characterizing the situation in Ukraine as “not simple.”

Russian forces launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov informed Russia’s Tass news agency that President Vladimir Putin has issued a directive prohibiting any strikes against Kyiv for a three-day period, effective from midnight tonight.

Zelenskyy stated that Ukraine was prepared to suspend strikes on Moscow until Monday.

He noted that he had spoken with the U.S. delegation on Saturday afternoon following their arrival in Moscow.

"From now until the end of Saturday, as well as on Sunday and Monday, Ukraine is ready to refrain from strikes on Moscow, and we expect the Russians to do the same regarding Kyiv," he said.

According to Tass, the U.S. envoys were received at Moscow's airport by Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev, who shared photographs of his meeting with the American delegation as they disembarked, accompanied by the caption, “Welcome to Moscow Peacemakers.”

With peace efforts stalled, Russia has intensified its attacks on Kyiv and other cities, launching relentless bombardments that now extend into daylight hours, exploiting Ukraine's shortage of air defense systems.

On Friday, a Russian drone struck one of Kyiv's most important government buildings — 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.

Ukraine’s long-range strikes have targeted Russian military installations, oil refineries, and e-commerce hubs, aiming to undermine the Kremlin’s war effort and economy while compelling ordinary citizens to endure the war’s repercussions.

The aerial conflict between Russia and Ukraine has escalated, as their forces have encountered considerable difficulty in making headway along the 1,250-kilometer (775-mile) front line.

In recent weeks, Russia has deployed swift, jet-propelled drones, and the persistent, mournful sound of air-raid sirens has become an ingrained feature of everyday existence in Kyiv.

In a social media post on Saturday, Zelenskyy reported that Russia had conducted overnight strikes on Kyiv and Boryspil international airports, linking the assault to his forthcoming visit to the United States.

“Clearly, these Russian strikes on the airports are a response to the discussions and preparations surrounding the potential deployment of a U.S. aircraft for travel to Ukraine,” he stated.

We have duly noted this Russian move, and next week we will adjust our operations accordingly with respect to Russian airspace, which has become hazardous due to our drones and missiles overhead.

Naturally, there are and will be no threats to diplomacy from our side.

Russian strikes claimed the lives of five people and left five others injured at an industrial site in Ukraine’s southern Dnipropetrovsk region, according to Oleksandr Hanzha, head of the local military administration, who identified the deceased as employees working at the facility.

"A locksmith, an electrician, a plumber and a machinist — people in peaceful trades, simply doing their shift, going about their work when enemy missiles abruptly ended their lives," he said.

A 62-year-old man sustained injuries, while several residences and an apartment block incurred damage, in a distinct assault on the region's Nikopol district, according to Hanzha.

In a statement released on Saturday, Russia’s Ministry of Defense announced that it had conducted strikes on two metallurgical plants in the region, characterizing them as “major suppliers of metal products for Ukraine’s military production.”

An additional two individuals sustained injuries in an overnight Russian assault on Ukraine’s Kyiv region, according to Tymur Tkachenko, the head of the regional military administration.

In the Boryspil district, a blaze ignited by the strike partially destroyed a nine-story residential edifice.

Russian forces also launched repeated drone strikes overnight on a shopping centre in the southern Mykolaiv region, damaging retail outlets and igniting fires, according to Ukraine’s State Emergency Service.

A 72-year-old man and a 17-year-old girl sustained injuries.

Emergency crews responding to the attack were repeatedly forced to withdraw to safety because of the threat of further strikes, returning whenever conditions allowed, the emergency services said.

According to Ukraine’s air force, Russia launched ballistic missiles from its Rostov and Voronezh regions and deployed 167 attack drones overnight.

Among the drones were Shahed-type aircraft—roughly half of them jet-powered—alongside Geran and decoy drones.

Ukrainian air defenses succeeded in shooting down or suppressing 128 of the drones, the air force reported.

In the adjacent region of Belgorod, Ukrainian strikes left three individuals wounded, among them a 14-year-old girl, according to local authorities.

Russia’s Defense Ministry reported that its forces had successfully intercepted and neutralized 53 Ukrainian drones during the night.