US envoys Witkoff and Kushner arrive in Moscow for Ukraine talks

A US government aircraft touched down at Moscow's Vnukovo Airport at 12:52 p.m. Moscow time on Saturday, September 5, carrying envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. As the American delegation was greeted on the tarmac by Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev, waves of ballistic missiles and attack drones were striking civilian infrastructure and regional airports across Ukraine.

The arrival marks a high-level attempt by the Trump administration to revive peace negotiations that have stalled over disagreements regarding territory and security guarantees for Ukraine. On Friday, President Donald Trump told reporters that Witkoff and Kushner are bringing with them a proposal to end the war.

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The diplomatic mission arrives during a period of intense military escalation. According to Ukraine's air force, Russian forces launched 167 attack drones—including Shahed-type, Geran, and decoy drones, roughly half of which were jet-powered—alongside ballistic missiles fired from the Rostov and Voronezh regions. While Ukrainian defenses intercepted or suppressed 128 drones, the strikes caused widespread damage.

In the southern Dnipropetrovsk region, local military administration head Oleksandr Hanzha reported that a strike on an industrial facility killed four employees: a locksmith, an electrician, a plumber, and a machinist. Hanzha described them as people of peaceful professions who were simply working their shifts. Russia's Ministry of Defence countered that its forces had targeted two metallurgical plants that are major suppliers of metal products for Ukraine's military production.

The violence extended to residential and civilian zones. In the Boryspil district of the Kyiv region, a strike sparked a fire that partially destroyed a nine-story residential building, leaving two people wounded, according to regional military administration head Tymur Tkachenko. In the southern Mykolaiv region, drones repeatedly struck a shopping centre, damaging retail premises and injuring a 17-year-old girl and a 72-year-old man. Ukraine's state emergency services noted that crews were repeatedly forced to withdraw to safety due to the threat of further strikes.

The timing of these attacks has triggered a sharp diplomatic clash. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy characterized the strikes on Kyiv and Boryspil airports as demonstrative and a reaction to the discussions and preparations for the possibility of the US side using an aircraft to travel to Ukraine. Writing on X, Zelenskyy described the assault as Russian-Iranian ‘shaheds’ in response to American diplomacy.

Kyiv had offered to halt its own airstrikes during the envoys' visit and urged Moscow to reciprocate, though the Russian government provided no public response. This tension was compounded on Friday when a Russian drone struck the headquarters of the SBU, Ukraine's Security Service, an agency involved in deep-strike operations inside Russia.

"We have taken note of this Russian move, and next week we will adjust our operation accordingly regarding Russian airspace, which has become dangerous because of our drones and missiles in the sky. Of course, there are and will be no threats to diplomacy from our side."

Volodymyr Zelenskyy, President of Ukraine, via Business Standard

This weekend's shuttle diplomacy follows a period of stagnation. Business Standard reports that US attention has been diverted for the last six months toward its war with Iran. Previous attempts at breakthroughs, including European-brokered talks in Paris and a semi-routine visit to Moscow last week by CIA Director John Ratcliffe, have failed to resolve core disputes over territory and security guarantees.

Witkoff and Kushner have visited Moscow multiple times since Donald Trump returned to office, including a meeting with Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin on January 22. However, Sunday, September 6, would mark their first visit to Kyiv. According to Axios and Yahoo News, the envoys are expected to hold separate meetings with both Putin and Zelenskyy.

The viability of the Sunday mission remains uncertain. Ukraine's airspace has been closed since February 2022, and the recent strikes on international airports have heightened the risk of arrival. The central question remains whether the US aircraft can successfully land in Kyiv to deliver the administration's proposal.