Zelenskyy’s Ceasefire Proposal Goes Unanswered as Putin Talks to US Envoys and Halts Strikes on Kyiv

Ukraine’s proposal for a full ceasefire along the line of contact was delivered directly to Vladimir Putin, but the Kremlin has not responded, the head of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s office confirmed on Saturday. Instead, Moscow engaged with US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner in a separate track, agreeing to a three-day halt on strikes against each other’s capitals.

“We handed over a concrete ceasefire proposal to the Russian side, but it was ignored,” Andriy Yermak, head of the Ukrainian presidential office, told Ukrainska Pravda. “There has been no answer from Putin.”

The starkly different response underlines the asymmetry of the diplomatic landscape: while Ukraine’s direct outreach to Moscow has stalled, a Trump-brokered initiative gained immediate traction. On 5 September 2026, Putin met Witkoff and Kushner in the Kremlin — a meeting Trump had announced days earlier as part of a new peace plan to “end the war”.

During the talks, both Russia and Ukraine committed not to strike each other’s capitals for three days, and Putin separately ordered a three-day halt to strikes on Kyiv, according to a Kremlin statement. “I warmly welcome you to Moscow,” Putin said in televised remarks. “The situation is, of course, not simple.”

The limited pause comes amid a summer of intensified attacks. On the same day as the meeting, Russian strikes killed at least seven people, including in the suburbs of Kyiv, Ukrainian officials reported. The Kremlin said it would not strike Kyiv from midnight on Saturday, but did not extend the pledge to other cities. Source: Ukrainska Pravda

The US envoys are expected to travel to Kyiv on 6 September for talks with Zelenskyy and his team. Trump said the delegation carries “a proposal to end the war”, though its full terms have not been disclosed. Witkoff thanked Putin for the limited ceasefire during the delegation’s visit, and Putin “said Russia would do its utmost to ensure the safety of the mediators,” according to the Kremlin. Source: Al Jazeera

For Ukraine, the diplomatic mismatch carries strategic risks. Zelenskyy’s team argues that any ceasefire must cover the entire front line, not just capitals, to prevent Russia from regrouping. By ignoring Zelenskyy’s proposal while entertaining US-led talks, Moscow may be trying to split the Kiev-Washington consensus and lock in tactical advantages.

“Russia wants a temporary freeze on the most visible targets — capitals — while continuing operations elsewhere,” said a Ukrainian military analyst briefed on the talks, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to discuss diplomatic details. “That is not a ceasefire; it is a theatrical pause.”

The three-day window expires on the night of 8 September. Whether it can be extended or broadened remains the central question as the US envoys arrive in Kyiv. For now, Ukraine’s own ceasefire proposal lies unanswered on Putin’s desk.