Volodymyr Zelensky orders suspension of attacks against Russia

“I just spoke to the envoys of the President of the United States. They started working with the Russian side today. From this moment on, we are willing to respect a ceasefire in air strikes against the cities involved in the negotiation process,” Zelensky said on his social networks.

Shortly before, Russian President Vladimir Putin had ordered the same: the three-day suspension of the attacks on the Ukrainian capital on the occasion of the visit of White House emissaries Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner.

“From now on and until the end of Saturday, as well as during Sunday and Monday, Ukraine is willing to refrain from carrying out attacks on Moscow and we expect the Russians to do the same in respect of Kiev,” he said.

Zelensky also assured that it will ensure “the normal functioning of Russian airspace so that negotiators can land safely,” wishing Moscow to do the same “during the time needed to maintain these talks and resolve the logistical issues related to the visit” of US envoys.

However, he denounced the Ukrainian President, before Putin announced the ceasefire there were bombings against Kiev and Borispil airports.

“ It is clear that these Russian attacks against airports are a reaction to the talks and preparations to the possibility that the U.S. side uses a plane to travel to Ukraine and land at Kiev airport or Borispil airport,” he said.

Ukraine closed the airspace to civil aviation on 24 February 2022, when it was invaded by Russia, and therefore Ukrainian citizens, foreign visitors and official delegations usually enter and travel across the country by train or by road, crossing neighbouring countries.

However, if the Russian attacks cease, the plane carrying Witkoff and Kushner could land at one of the Ukrainian airports.

Zelensky also said that Ukraine is prepared “to hold a substantial conversation” with Trump’s envoys, but promised firmness in the negotiations.

On Friday, the President of the United States, Donal Trump, confirmed that his envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner would travel to Moscow and Kiev this weekend to try to revive the talks between Russia and Ukraine to end the war.

Witkoff, the special envoy of the White House, and Kushner, Trump's son-in-law, will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, and later will travel to Kiev to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, at the first meeting between the two negotiators and the Ukrainian leader.

The trip takes place a year after Trump received Putin in Alaska in August 2025, in an attempt to end the war, one of the Republican campaign promises. The meeting, however, ended without agreement.

Trump is trying to reintegrate Russia on the international stage, having invited Moscow to attend the meetings of the G20 finance ministers held last week in North Carolina (United States).

The Russian military offensive against Ukrainian territory, launched on 24 February 2022, plunged Europe into what is considered the most serious security crisis since World War II (1939–1945).