Ukraine war, latest news. Zelensky: US is considering measures to reduce escalation over the winter. Moscow closes the German consulate in St Petersburg

On Sunday 6 September, in fact, talks described as ‘substantive’ took place between representatives of the US government and the Ukrainian government. Kyiv reported that the Americans had put forward new, “more effective” proposals aimed at bringing about an end to the war with Russia, although Zelensky expressed concern that the war could continue this winter, given the reluctance of his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to negotiate directly with him.

Following an initial mission to Moscow, where they spoke with Putin, and then a meeting with the Ukrainian government, Witkoff and Kushner left Kyiv by train on Sunday evening. European security advisers were also present at one of the dialogue sessions with Zelensky (see the following paragraph).

Following the talks, the Ukrainian president said at a press conference on Sunday evening: “We are counting on the support of our European partners should the war drag on into winter, as it currently appears it will.”

For his part, Steve Witkoff, who had previously described the talks as ‘very significant’, stated that Moscow and Kyiv will have to make compromises to find a way out of the war that has pitted them against each other since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff stated that significant progress had been made in the process of resolving the conflict in Ukraine, including with regard to the organisation of trilateral negotiations, following the talks held in Moscow and Kyiv.

Russia is not opposed to the resumption of trilateral talks with the US and Ukraine . “We, too, do not rule out the resumption of the trilateral format, but at this stage it is too early to say anything about the venue or the exact dates,” emphasised Dmitry Peskov following the visit to Moscow and Kyiv by US negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner.

We would like to point out that trilateral negotiations have already taken place at January 2026 andFebruary 2026 without success. On that occasion too, just as today, Witkoff had spoken of significant progress – in reality a failure – but because, then as now, his priority is to shout from the rooftops about how great Trump’s merit is in bringing the parties to the table, albeit never directly.

Russian President Vladimir Putin remains determined to continue the war in Ukraine following his meeting with Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. This is reported by Bloomberg, citing sources who claim that the talks at the Kremlin did not lead to a breakthrough. Putin is determined to take control of Donetsk and believes that the Russian army can achieve this goal within the next six months, the same sources add.

The Donbass remains the main sticking point on which negotiations between Russia and Ukraine are stalling even before they have begun. With Moscow claiming control over 19 per cent of the territory (mainly in Donetsk) that it has not yet managed to conquer, if only to construct a narrative of victory at the conclusion of a conflict that was never a victory and which it itself initiated. “Putin’s fiction regarding the theatre of war remains divorced from the reality of Ukraine’s defensive capabilities, Russia’s degraded offensive capabilities, and the difficult and extensive territory that Moscow’s forces have yet to capture in order to achieve the President’s strategic objective in the region”, write analysts at the Institute for the Study of War.

US negotiators reported a “renewed willingness to negotiate” on the part of Russia during their talks with European representatives in Kyiv yesterday. This was announced by the Élysée Palace. “The Americans told us that there has been a renewed willingness to negotiate on the part of Russia following the Duma elections (the lower house of the Russian parliament, scheduled for 18 to 20 September) and that, in this context, we should prepare for a fresh start to the negotiations,” said the French Presidency during a telephone briefing with journalists.

The Ukrainian leader Zelensky’s stance was also positive at first glance; on X, he emphasised that “the most important thing is to continue working together actively to keep the diplomatic channel open. We have had substantive discussions on our air defence requirements, on related technological cooperation and on the winter package we need. Our partners know what can deliver results and what must necessarily deliver results ahead of winter”, he concludes.

“Due to the deteriorating security situation in the capital , all entertainment events and outdoor sporting activities , as well as those taking place in buildings without shelter, will be temporarily banned” in Kyiv from Thursday: this was announced on Telegram by the mayor Vitali Klitschko, following a meeting of the Ukrainian capital’s defence council.

The Ukrainian Minister of Defence Yevhenii Khmara, and the Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Mykhailo Drapatyi, met with the national security advisers of France, Germany and the United Kingdom, Emmanuel Bonne, Gunter Sautter and Jonathan Powell, according to a statement from the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence published today and reported by the Ukrainian news agency Interfax.

The Ukrainian representatives briefed their partners on the situation on the battlefield, the strategy and the activities of the Defence Forces, particularly in eastern Ukraine. Minister Khmara emphasised that Ukraine is preparing for the possibility of Russia announcing a new wave of mobilisation. The potential challenges and requirements relating to measures that would reduce Russia’s capacity to wage war were discussed, according to the statement.

“One key approach is the deep strike (deep strike, ed.). It is one of the means of depriving Russia of the ability to finance its aggression against Ukraine. At the same time, coordinated action with partners remains necessary to strengthen the pressure of sanctions on Russia”, continues the statement from Kyiv.

In Russian-controlled regions or those under Moscow’s control, five people have died and a further 15 have been injured following Ukrainian drone attacks in the last few hours. In Sevastopol, on the Crimean peninsula, which was annexed in 2014, a 15-year-old girl was killed, according to a report on the Max platform by the governor, Mikhail Razvozhayev. Three other people, including a 16-year-old teenager, were injured.

In Perm, in the Urals, a block of flats was struck by Ukrainian drones and one person was killed, according to the regional governor, Dmitry Makhonin. Four other people were injured.

The Ukrainian armed forces also carried out drone attacks on several towns in the Belgorod region, killing two civilians and injuring two others, according to the regional emergency response centre, as reported by Interfax.

In Donetsk, which was annexed by Moscow in 2022, four civilians were injured by Ukrainian drones in Horlivka, as reported on Telegram by the city’s mayor, Ivan Prikhodko.

A resident of Rubizhne, in Luhansk, was killed in an attack by the Ukrainian armed forces on her car, according to Leonid Pasechnik, the head of the administration of the Russian-controlled region of Ukraine.

On the Ukrainian front, however, the Russian Ministry of Defence has claimed responsibility for attacks on ‘port infrastructure and military vessels deployed in support of the Ukrainian armed forces’. Last night, ‘attack drones struck the Mavka, a cargo ship carrying military equipment, in the port of Chornomorsk’ in the Odessa Oblast. ‘This morning, attack drones struck a production and loading complex used for unloading military equipment supplied to the Ukrainian armed forces by Western countries in the port of Izmail. In the Black Sea, a patrol boat used to escort vessels carrying military equipment was struck,’ the Kremlin reported.

The Chinese company Jilin Chemical Fibre Group has shipped to the Russian company Alabuga-Volokno, a subsidiary of Rosatom, 46 tonnes of polyacrylonitrile, a polymer used to produce carbon fibres required for the manufacture of drones (to reinforce the wings and for internal components, including the engine and fuel tank).

The documents relating to the shipment dated 2026 refer to goods for civilian use, as reported by Politico and The Telegraph, citing the documents as the first direct evidence of China’s contribution to the Russian war effort.

Drones based on the Iranian Shahed design have been assembled at the Alabuga plant in Tatarstan since 2023. The quantity of Chinese polyacrylonitrile sold to the Russians is sufficient to produce 1,300 drones.

Russia has revoked “its consent to the operations of the Consulate-General of the Federal Republic of Germany in St Petersburg, which must cease its activities by 18 September 2026”. This was announced by the Russian Foreign Ministry. The decision was taken as a retaliatory measure following the closure of the Russian consulate in Bonn. All its staff will have to leave the Russian Federation by that date. The decision was taken as a measure of retaliation against the closure of the Russian consulate in Bonn.

Finland has completed the construction of a 200-kilometre fence along its border with Russia. This was reported by the Helsinki Border Guard. “Construction of the fence on the eastern border has been completed,” the agency announced on its website, specifying that the barrier is 200 kilometres long and 4.5 metres high. The project cost 356 million euros.

The Border Guard explained that the fence was erected in the areas where it was most needed, based on a risk assessment, and where it was cost-effective to do so.

Since 2023, Finland has been erecting a fence along those sections of its border with Russia where the busiest border crossings are located. The authorities have justified the construction of the barrier on the grounds that it is necessary to prevent illegal immigration.

The border between Finland and Russia remains closed until further notice, following a decision by the Finnish authorities. Finland began imposing border restrictions in November 2023, following the massive and uncontrolled influx of refugees from third countries.

The Finnish authorities have accused Russia of deliberately sending asylum seekers to the border. The spokesperson for the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, has rejected the allegations that Moscow is involved in the European Union’s migration crisis.

European integration, common defence, Gaza and Israel, migration and the war in Ukraine. These were the issues addressed by the President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella during a meeting at the Quirinale with the Estonian President Alar Karis. In particular, the two presidents reaffirmed their support for Ukraine. President Mattarella also expressed “the hope that the ongoing negotiations will yield results”.