Story summary
US President Donald Trump has announced that his special envoys, Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, will be traveling to Russia and Ukraine this weekend to attempt to broker a peace deal between the two warring nations. According to Trump, they are bringing a proposal aimed at ending the war in its fifth year, although he did not elaborate on what the proposal entails. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has confirmed that he will meet with the envoys on Sunday after they visit Moscow on Saturday to hold talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The trip comes as efforts to end the war appear to be gaining pace, but a gulf remains between the two sides. Trump's administration has provided billions of dollars in military aid to Ukraine, much of which was transferred free of charge, and now the US is asking Europe to retroactively pay for this assistance.
Witkoff and Kushner have led Trump's efforts to broker a peace deal, but their itinerary has been in flux, and the Kyiv section of their journey was still uncertain. The pair were initially due to arrive in Kyiv by plane, but it was reported that Witkoff is "too scared" to travel to Kyiv for peace talks.
The trip also comes as Trump made a series of comments on social media, including claiming that European countries should repay the US for past Ukraine aid and slamming reports of heavily depleted US munition stockpiles amid the separate war in Iran.
Written for “US-Russia-Ukraine Peace Efforts” on 2026-09-07,
grounded in this article and the 68 other(s) covering the same event.
Donald Trump’s peace envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner have been confronted over their talks with “war criminal” Russian president Vladimir Putin.
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envoys → confront → Putin
In a news conference in Kyiv alongside Volodymry Zelensky on Sunday, Ukrainian journalist Dmytro Gordon asked whether Putin was deceiving the US president.
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Putin → ask → president
“You have met with President Putin very often.
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You → meet → Putin
Does it seem to you that Putin has been deceiving you all this time?,” he added according to the Kyiv Post.
uncertain
he → seem → Post
“And finally, don’t you find it disgusting to sit at the same table with an international war criminal, the executioner of the Ukrainian people, who is personally responsible for the tragedy in Ukraine?” he added.
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he → find → Ukraine
Zelensky held talks with Witkoff and Kushner on Sunday, after their three-hour talks with Putin in Moscow on Saturday.
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Zelensky → hold → Saturday
He lauded their “very substantive” conversation and said Ukraine was ready for trilateral talks involving Russia, the US and Ukraine.
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Ukraine → laud → Russia
The US president is expected to speak to Putin and Zelensky over the phone on Monday.
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president → expect → Monday
Meanwhile, Kyiv’s air raid alerts have reached their highest level since the war began in February 2022, as Russia ramps up its targeting of the Ukrainian capital, according to an analysis of government figures by BBC Verify.
uncertain
Russia → reach → Verify
Watch: Trump's energy secretary says he doesn't want to predict gas prices
Russia electric vehicle sales double in summer as motorists face fuel shortages
New electric vehicle sales in Russia more than doubled over the summer months as shortages caused by Ukrainian attacks on refineries boosted demand for alternatives to cars powered by combustion engines, data from analytical agency Autostat showed.
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data → watch → Autostat
Sales of new passenger electric or plug-in hybrid cars, which are mainly produced in China, reached 26,543 units in June to August this year, up from 12,187 in the same period of 2025, the data provided to Reuters showed.
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data → produce → Reuters
Kyiv's strikes on major Russian refineries intensified from early June, forcing some to halt operations and contributing to fuel shortages.
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strikes → intensify → shortages
Russia's gasoline production had fallen to about 70% of domestic consumption levels by the end of August.
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production → fall → August
The shortages forced Russian motorists to spend hours searching for fuel and queuing at gasoline stations, prompting some consumers to consider electric vehicles as an alternative or convert their vehicles to natural gas.
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shortages → force → gas
Russia's EV market remains relatively small mainly due to a limited charging network, vast distances and harsh climate.
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market → remain → network
EVs and plug-in hybrids accounted for just 4.3% of Russia's total car sales last year, Autostat said.
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Autostat → plug → sales
EV sales were constrained by supply as manufacturers and importers were caught by surprise by the gasoline shortages, Autostat added.
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Autostat → constrain → shortages
With Reuters
Which airlines are still flying in Russian airspace?
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airlines → fly → airspace
Airlines and passengers that still fly over Russia have been warned that the skies are “completely unsafe” by the president of Ukraine.
Volodymyr Zelensky deemed Russian airspace to be unsafe in a warning to airlines ahead of Ukrainian drone attacks last Tuesday.
“We want to warn every airline that uses Russian airspace, every insurer, and everyone who still uses Russia’s key airports: Russian airspace is becoming completely unsafe,” he said.
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he → fly → airports
Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in spring 2022, most major Western carriers have suspended operations over Russia, rerouting journeys around its airspace.
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carriers → suspend → airspace
The airspace is currently closed to around 35 countries and territories in retaliation for banning all Russian aircraft from using EU airspace, among other international restrictions.
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airspace → close → restrictions
Travel writer Natalie Wilson reports:
One killed in Ukrainian drone attack on car in Russia-occupied Luhansk region
A Ukrainian attack on a car in a Russian-controlled part of Ukraine’s eastern Luhansk region has killed one person, the region's Russian-installed governor Leonid Pasechnik said on Monday.
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attack → report → Monday
We’ll bring you more on the attack as it comes in.
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it → bring → attack
Zelensky: We must keep diplomacy going
We’ve just heard from President Volodymyr Zelensky on X, who has urged all sides to “keep diplomacy going” after a fresh round of talks between US envoys and negotiators in Kyiv and Moscow.
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who → keep → Kyiv
"Our partners know what can bear fruit and what must bear fruit ahead of winter.
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what → know → winter
We are coordinating our next steps.
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We → coordinate → steps
We are preparing the next meetings and communications," he said on X.
He said there were three rounds of negotiations held, with representatives from France, the UK and Germany also joining.
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representatives → prepare → France
“Yesterday, I also had a separate tête-à-tête with [US envoys] Steve [Witkoff] and Jared [Kushner] to discuss the day’s outcomes,” he added.
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he → have → outcomes
Putin meets with Kushner and Witkoff amid Ukraine war peace talks - ICYMI
Zelensky says oil refinery hit in Ryazan region
Volodymyr Zelensky has said a Russian oil refinery in the Ryazan region was struck by Ukrainian drones in a fresh long-range attack.
“Our warriors continue responding justly to Russian strikes on Ukraine.
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warriors → meet → Ukraine
An oil refinery was hit in the Ryazan region,” the Ukrainian president said, sharing footage which he said was of the strike.
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he → hit → strike
“Our long-range capabilities were used against oil-processing facilities in the Perm region and Tatarstan, and against a site used to store and launch attack drones in the Kursk region,” he added.
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he → use → region
“A target was also hit in the Black Sea.
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target → hit → Sea
I thank every one of our units for their precision!”
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I → thank → precision
Kyiv air raid alerts hit record high - report
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alerts → hit → report
Air raid alerts in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv are at their highest levels of the war so far, as Russia ramps up attacks on the Ukrainian capital, according to a report.
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Russia → ramp → report
Moscow’s new strategy of increasing daytime attacks on the city has forced it to drive up the frequency of its daily air raid alerts, BBC Verify reported in an analysis of Ukrainian government figures.
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Verify → increase → figures
Residents have been forced to head to the shelters as often as 13 times a day, the analysis said.
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analysis → force → times
‘Overnight we all became war correspondents’: Ukraine’s local newspapers face battle to stay alive
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newspapers → become → battle
In the weeks leading up to Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, the headlines in a Kyiv newspaper looked much like they would anywhere else.
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they → lead → newspaper
There was some debate over whether Russia would actually attack its neighbour.
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Russia → be → neighbour
…and 6 more, not listed.
