Following weekend shuttle diplomacy by US envoys in Moscow and Kyiv, Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin held a direct phone call that produced no immediate peace breakthroughs while heavy strikes continued.
The diplomatic mission follows a three-hour meeting in the Kremlin where Vladimir Putin insisted that any settlement must account for Russian military advances.
U.S. negotiators traveled from Moscow to Kyiv to synchronize peace proposals as Russian strikes killed civilians in the Dnipro and Kharkiv regions.
Russia targeted Boryspil and Zhulyany airports after Ukraine offered to suspend aerial strikes to facilitate the arrival of a US diplomatic delegation.
The temporary suspension of attacks on the Ukrainian capital coincides with a US-led diplomatic push, though heavy fighting continues in other regions.
US special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner are scheduled to visit Moscow and Kyiv for diplomatic talks, navigating intense Russian aerial bombardment.
The high-level diplomatic mission arrives amid intense military escalation, with President Zelenskyy labeling overnight attacks on Kyiv airports as 'demonstrative' responses to US diplomacy.
The aerial campaign targeted industrial sites and airports, defying a unilateral pledge by President Zelenskyy to halt airstrikes during the American delegation's visit.
US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner have arrived in Moscow to discuss ending the war in Ukraine amid a barrage of Russian missile and drone strikes.