(AFP) – Russian strikes hit Kyiv’s airports overnight, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Saturday, as US envoys are expected to arrive in the region to discuss a plan to end more than four years of war. US President Donald Trump said Friday he was sending Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to Moscow and Kyiv, in Washington’s latest bid to break a diplomatic stalemate in Europe’s deadliest conflict since World War II.
Russia hit a civilian target in the Dnipro region overnight, killing four people, as well as Kyiv’s two airports, Zelensky said, accusing the Kremlin of trying to disrupt the envoys’ visit. “Clearly, these Russian strikes on the airports are a reaction to the discussions and preparations for the possibility of the US side using an aircraft to travel to Ukraine,” Zelensky said on X, adding there would be “no threats to diplomacy” from the Ukrainian side.
It will be the first time that Trump’s businessman friend Witkoff and son-in-law Kushner have visited war-torn Kyiv since Trump returned to office last year with a pledge to resolve the conflict. Travelling by plane would be a highly unusual move, with Ukrainian airspace closed since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022. Leaders and officials visiting Kyiv have largely travelled by train. The envoys are expected in Kyiv on Sunday, a senior Ukrainian official told AFP, while US outlet Axios reported they would meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Saturday.
Trump told reporters that the two negotiators would seek to gauge whether progress was possible towards peace in the conflict. Peace efforts have stalled due to Washington’s war with Iran, while Moscow and Kyiv have intensified long-range attacks, driving up civilian casualties to levels not seen since the start of fighting. “I sent Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, two great negotiators. They’ve done a great job, and we sent them over to see whether or not we can get something done. And there may be a good chance that we’ll do it,” Trump said. “They’re bringing with them a proposal to end the war,” he said.
The US president would not say whether the plan involved Ukraine ceding territory as he has previously suggested, but added: “We have an idea for peace.” Witkoff and Kushner, who have been involved in negotiations for ceasefires in Gaza and Iran, have travelled repeatedly to Moscow in previous attempts at diplomacy.
The renewed push for diplomacy comes as Russia and Ukraine pummel each other with long-range missile and drone attacks. Just hours before Trump’s announcement, a Russian drone struck the headquarters of Ukraine’s SBU security service in central Kyiv, according to Zelensky. The strike, which Zelensky said was aimed at the office of the agency’s acting chief, was the first on its headquarters since the start of the invasion.
Despite the unprecedented nature of the strike, the Ukrainian president proposed observing a ceasefire with Russia for the duration of the US envoys’ trip. “There will be no airstrikes on our part, and Russia must reciprocally ensure a ceasefire — without its own airstrikes — for the duration needed to conduct these talks,” he said in his evening address. Russia did not immediately comment on the proposal.
Hours later, Oleksandr Ganzha, head of the Dnipropetrovsk regional military administration, said a Russian strike killed four people and wounded five in the southeastern city of Kamianske. Zelensky had said on Wednesday that Russian airspace would be “completely unsafe” and filled with Ukrainian drones as long as Moscow continued its war. On Saturday he said Ukraine would “adjust” its air operations to ensure there was “no threat to diplomacy from our side.”
Witkoff and Kushner’s trip comes more than a week after a rare visit to Moscow by CIA director John Ratcliffe, who warned Russia against any attack on NATO member states, according to US media. Earlier this week, the United States welcomed the Russian finance minister at a G20 gathering in North Carolina.
© 2024 AFP
