Putin announces halting strikes on Kyiv during talks with US envoys

Russian leader Vladimir Putin met with US special envoys on Saturday in an attempt to revive stalled push to end the war with Ukraine. The two envoys are heading to Kyiv for the first time in the peace process.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says they're prepared to halt strikes on Moscow until Monday while the talks are underway.

Earlier, US President Donald Trump has said at the White House that his envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner are sent to see "whether or not we can get something done" to address the years-long Russia-Ukraine conflict and "there may be a good chance that we'll do it."

At the start of the talks in Moscow, Putin asks Witkoff and Kushner to pass on his warm wishes and gratitide for Trump, saying the situation in Ukraine is not simple.

He has ordered no strikes be carried out against Kyiv for three days, starting midnight Saturday, according to Russia's presidential spokesperson Dmitry Peskov.

Witkoff says to Putin: "I want to thank you for endorsing the no-shoot policy in Kyiv and Moscow for these three days that allowed us to be able to come here in a safe manner."

The closed-door meetings in Moscow that lasted over three hours are described by officials as "constructive, frank and useful" but no specific outcomes have been released by the Kremlin.

Putin's foreign policy advisor Yuri Ushakov notes that the Russian side outlined its own "clear and comprehensive assessment" of the battlefield situation, in particular, they've noted their advances in the combat zone and expressed confidence in achieving its goals.

Economic issues and potentially large, mutually beneficial joint projects for Russia and America are also discussed in considerable detail, says Ushakov.

The visit comes amid intensified air war between the two parties, with Russian forces relentlessly launching attacks on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities that stretch into daytime.

A drone on Friday struck the headquarters of Ukraine's Security Service, which is one of the agencies involved in carrying out deep-strike operations inside Russia.

In a statement on Saturday, Russia's Ministry of Defense announces conducting strikes on two metallurgical plants in the southern Dnipropetrovsk and describes them as major suppliers of metal products that support Ukraine's military.

Ukraine's air force says Sunday that 82 drones out of the 108 launched by Russia overnight, along with six missiles, have been intercepted.