U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff said Washington made substantive progress toward reviving Russia-Ukraine negotiations after American officials traveled to Moscow and Kyiv. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the United States is seeking to ease the conflict before winter and restart broader talks, while warning that Russian President Vladimir Putin may be counting on harsh winter conditions to weaken Ukraine. Zelenskyy said Putin would likely avoid antagonizing President Donald Trump before the U.S. midterm elections and could offer diplomatic concessions. Witkoff and Jared Kushner met Zelenskyy in Kyiv, where they conveyed that Russia was ready to negotiate and sought to unblock diplomacy. Discussions covered possible de-escalation involving energy and electricity facilities, grain shipments, and oil and gas exports. Russia and Ukraine agreed to a three-day no-shoot policy, while Washington cited movement toward new trilateral talks involving the United States, Russia and Ukraine. The United Kingdom separately pledged £100 million, or about $135.16 million, for Ukraine’s air defenses, including Patriot missiles, as Kyiv faces interceptor shortages and Russian attacks on civilian and critical infrastructure. The diplomatic effort was followed by a Russian ballistic-missile strike on Kyiv that injured six people after the U.S. delegation left Ukraine.