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Witkoff and Kushner meet Zelenskyy in Kyiv after three hours with Putin
Rbrechko / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Trump's envoys made their first official Kyiv visit Sunday. Russia and Ukraine paused strikes on the capitals. No breakthrough was announced.
U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv on Sunday, Sept. 6, 2026, after more than three hours with Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Saturday. The White House said they discussed substantive next steps to be announced in coming weeks. Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov called the Moscow talks frank and useful and said Putin told them Russia was making battlefield progress. Zelenskyy said Ukraine wants peace, security guarantees, and a dignified postwar settlement. Both sides paused strikes on Kyiv and Moscow around the visits.
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Russia-Ukraine war: US envoys begin Ukraine talks after Putin meeting
6 Sep 2026
Facts
Zelensky told the media it was not possible for the envoys to land their plane despite preparations.
Ukraine confirmed it struck an oil refinery, an airfield, and two air defence systems.
Ukraine's defence ministry said it targeted the Ryazan oil refinery and an airfield in Rostov-on-Don.
Russia still controls about one-fifth of Ukrainian territory, areas it seized in 2022.
Ukraine says it has struggled to repel ballistic missile attacks due to a lack of interceptor missiles.
Kyiv has focused its strikes on Russian economic infrastructure, notably oil installations.
Opinion
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Witkoff and Kushner discussed ‘next steps’ with Putin to end Ukraine war, says US
5 Sep 2026
Facts
Zelenskyy said Russian attacks on Kyiv and Boryspil airports were clearly a reaction to the US negotiators flying to Kyiv.
Zelenskyy said Kyiv had taken note and would adjust operations regarding Russian airspace.
Officials visiting Ukraine have largely done so by train, because Ukrainian airspace has been closed since 2022.
The Guardian says Moscow has made those statements repeatedly since the February 2022 full-scale invasion.
On Friday the Kremlin said it was sticking by Putin's position that Ukraine should give up four regions and not join NATO.
Trump made ending the war a priority early in his second term.
Ukrainian officials said Russian strikes on Saturday had killed at least seven people, including in the Kyiv suburbs.
Zelenskyy said he had spoken to the US officials and expected them in Kyiv on Sunday.
Putin has repeatedly said Moscow intends to seize the rest of east Ukraine.
The war has killed hundreds of thousands and displaced millions.
The war, launched by Russia in 2022, has brought increasing civilian deaths and attacks this summer.
Ukraine has carried out long-range strikes on Russian military facilities, oil refineries and e-commerce warehouses.
Ukraine's strikes on Russian oil refineries have led to fuel shortages and rising petrol prices.
Zelenskyy vowed to retaliate.
Russia on Friday night struck the Kyiv suburbs, reportedly killing two people in the Bucha district.
Oleksandr Hanzha said an attack on the Dnipro region killed five people and wounded five at a factory.
Hanzha said those killed were factory employees doing their job when missiles cut off their lives.
Hanzha said a 62-year-old man was injured and homes were damaged in an attack on the Nikopol district.
Russia struck a shopping centre in the Mykolaiv region with drones, injuring a 72-year-old man and a 17-year-old girl.
Emergency services said they were repeatedly forced to withdraw because of the threat of more strikes.
Opinion
The Guardian says little has changed so far.
The Guardian says that position is intolerable to Ukraine.
The Guardian says large gaps remain between Russia and Ukraine on how to end the war.
The Guardian says peace efforts have floundered as US attention turned to the Iran war and the conflict intensified.
Witkoff, Kushner arrive in Ukraine for talks after meeting with Putin in new diplomatic push
6 Sep 2026
Facts
A White House official said NSC, State, and Treasury officials joined Kushner and Witkoff for the discussions.
Witkoff thanked Putin for hosting the American delegation.
Witkoff told Putin those stories would be right at the top of it all.
Ukraine's State Emergency Service reported a Russian strike caused a large-scale fire at an infrastructure facility in the Kyiv region.
Opinion
ABC News says there are few signs peace is any closer.
ABC News says Putin afterwards gave no sign of compromise.
ABC News says that phrase hints at maximalist Russian demands that Ukraine accept neutrality, cut its military, and abandon NATO aspirations.
ABC News says most experts believe Putin's position has hardened and that he is more determined to force concessions from Kyiv.
ABC News says those drones were used to relentlessly terrorize the capital.
Oleksandr Merezhko, chair of Ukraine's parliamentary foreign affairs committee, told ABC the Kremlin meeting did little to encourage Ukrainians.
Merezhko said from Kyiv that he does not have any hopes at all about Trump's envoy.
Merezhko said Putin believes he can save his skin only if Ukraine capitulates.
Merezhko described Witkoff and Kushner as amateurs without necessary knowledge and experience.
Merezhko said Putin believes there is no way back for him, something Trump does not understand.
U.S. envoys Witkoff and Kushner land for talks in Kyiv after meeting Putin in Moscow
6 Sep 2026
Facts
Ushakov said Moscow offered its comprehensive assessment of the battlefield situation in Ukraine.
Ukraine's State Emergency Service said Russian attacks killed one person and injured at least 10 overnight into Sunday.
Russia has recently been using fast-flying, jet-powered drones, and air-raid sirens have become part of daily life in Kyiv.
In Zaporizhzhia, drone strikes killed a 74-year-old man and wounded three people.
A drone damaged an apartment building in the Khmelnytskyi region, injuring seven people.
Belgorod authorities said a Ukrainian drone struck a vehicle, killing a man and seriously wounding a woman.
Dozens gathered in Kyiv on Sunday for a 9 a.m. moment of silence honoring Ukraine's fallen soldiers.
Among them was Nataliia Lipei, 67, whose son Viktor was killed in December 2022.
Nataliia Lipei said she hopes the talks in Moscow and Kyiv will finally bring an end to the war.
Pastukhov said Ukraine has already seen delegations like this come before.
Lipei told AP she hopes the meetings will produce results because of the bloodshed.
Opinion
NPR says Washington's push to end the fighting has lost momentum while the United States focused on the Iran war.
Pastukhov said people should not naively think two envoys will come and change something.
Oleksandr Pastukhov, a video editor at the commemoration, was skeptical the envoys' visit would change anything.
Not everyone at the commemoration shared Lipei's hope for the talks.
Trump envoys Witkoff and Kushner arrive in Ukraine after Putin talks in new push to end war
6 Sep 2026
Facts
Zelenskyy said European security advisers will participate in some of the talks.
Trump returned to office with a pledge to solve the conflict.
Zelenskyy said one session of talks would be followed by another with European national security advisers.
Zelenskyy told reporters there would be several important sessions.
Ushakov said the American colleagues made serious preparations for the trip.
Pope Leo XIV renewed his appeal for peace in Ukraine and said he hopes the negotiations will bring results.
Pope Leo XIV said he hopes recent efforts to resume negotiations will bear concrete fruit and make way for diplomacy.
Global Reach said Gilman was hospitalized in serious condition after alleged severe mistreatment.
Opinion
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