US seeking to revive Russia-Ukraine ceasefire talks

The United States is working to arrange a new round of talks in a bid to end the four-and-a-half-year Russia-Ukraine war.

Kyiv and Moscow both confirmed the plan to relaunch trilateral talks on Friday. The move follows negotiations that started earlier this year before the US efforts to broker an end to hostilities petered out amid Washington’s war on Iran.

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The United Arab Emirates is mooted as the host of the new talks.

“The American side has proposed meeting at a technical level in a three-way ⁠⁠format,” Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told reporters. “We are awaiting a ⁠⁠proposal from the United States ⁠⁠regarding the date ⁠⁠and the US has suggested the Emirates as ‌‌a possible location.”

Later, the Kremlin confirmed that a trilateral meeting could be soon, although spokesman Dmitry Peskov said there were no details to ⁠⁠add currently.

President Donald Trump’s envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner visited Russia and Ukraine earlier this month in a bid to jump-start the bid to secure a ceasefire.

The US stance has previously been criticised for favouring Russia’s narrative, with Moscow insisting that Ukraine cede territory that Russia has illegally occupied, demilitarise and drop ambitions to join NATO.

Russia’s presidential envoy Kirill Dmitriev reportedly met with Witkoff ‌‌and ‌‌Kushner in the US on September 24. Peskov said those talks were about potential economic cooperation.

Defence aid for Ukraine

Zelenskyy said that Trump told him that Ukraine will be granted permission to produce advanced Patriot air defence missiles.

Kyiv desperately needs additional air defences to counter Russia’s increasing drone and missile attacks, but Trump has delayed approval.

Should a licence be issued, it would be more than a year before Kyiv could put any new Patriot systems into service, leaving Zelenskyy, in the US to attend the United Nations General Assembly, to continue his pleas for additional support from allies.

“In recent days, during our meetings, Ukraine has openly informed our partners: Russia will only escalate as winter approaches unless there is pressure,” Zelenskyy wrote on X on Friday. “For diplomacy to work, US sanctions must be implemented and European sanctions must be strengthened.”

European Union member countries agreed on Friday to release $7.5 billion in EU funds linked to military aid for ‌Ukraine.

In a post on X, Kaja Kallas, the vice president of the European Commission, said the money will come from the European Peace Facility and will go towards joint procurement of equipment.

“Moscow’s hybrid attacks try to intimidate Europe into scaling back its support for Ukraine. Europe is doing the opposite,” she said.

Russia and Ukraine trade attacks

As efforts to renew peace negotiations continue, Moscow and Kyiv have not ceased attacks.

Ukraine’s Air Force said it shot down 267 out of 295 drones launched by Russia overnight.

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said at least five people, including a 14-year-old boy, were killed in Russian strikes on the capital on Friday. Another 31 were injured in the attacks, including 15 people receiving treatment in hospitals in Kyiv.

In the southern Odesa region, Governor Oleh Kiper said one person was killed ‌‌and another injured in a series of “massive” Russian strikes on a residential area and logistics premises ‌‌of a ‌‌postal operator.

Separately, steelmaker ArcelorMittal said it was shutting production at Ukraine’s largest steel plant after four strikes in five weeks caused extensive damage and killed five workers at the southeastern plant.

On the other side of the conflict, emergency services said one person was ⁠killed and one ⁠wounded in a drone attack ‌on a market near the Russian-controlled town of ⁠Horlivka in Ukraine’s ⁠Donetsk region, ‌according to Russian state news agency TASS.

Russia said its air defence ⁠⁠units destroyed about ⁠⁠50 drones over the Rostov region overnight and a drone attack damaged ⁠⁠the Novoshakhtinsk oil refinery, forcing it to suspend operations.

Dmitry Makhonin, governor of Russia’s Perm region, said in a statement on Telegram that air defences in the region shot down 39 drones during overnight strikes, which he said killed one person who succumbed to wounds inflicted during the attack.

Aleksandr Gusev, governor of the Russian border region of Voronezh, said 13 people were injured in the regional capital, and that debris from downed drones damaged several non-residential and industrial buildings.

Ukraine recently struck two other major ‌‌Russian ‌‌oil refineries in Moscow and Yaroslavl. Zelenskyy asserted that refineries ⁠⁠in Bashkortostan and ⁠⁠the Samara ⁠⁠region had also been hit in the past 24-hours.

The Ukrainian leader also reported unspecified strikes in the Black Sea. He added that he has held talks with India, Turkiye, ⁠⁠Egypt and other Middle Eastern countries concerning efforts to unblock shipping in the Black Sea, where Russia has targeted cargo vessels.