Trump announces US peace proposal as envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner plan trips to Moscow and Kyiv; separate reports cover drone attacks in Ukraine, a Finnish drone investigation, and Russian targeting of Germany.
Trump says ‘we have an idea for peace’ as US envoy heads abroad for peace talks
Russia’s Tass news agency said Witkoff and Kushner were scheduled to visit Moscow and Kyiv on Saturday and Sunday.
Donald Trump has claimed the US has “an idea for peace” as he sends his special envoy Steve Witkoff for talks with both Moscow and Kyiv.
Speaking to press on Friday, the president suggested the US had a fresh concrete proposal aimed at ending the war, which is now in its fifth year. He did not, however, elaborate on what that proposal would be.
Nor did he say if Witkoff or his son-in-law Jared Kushner would be traveling to Ukraine, Russia or both nations.
It comes after reports that Witkoff is “too scared” to travel to Kyiv for peace talks throwing planned negotiations into doubt.
The Kyiv visit was thrown into doubt amid claims that Witkoff is concerned about Russian warnings that he should not travel to the Ukrainian capital, the Kyiv Independent reported.
"The Russians don't want them to come here to Kyiv, and Witkoff is always sensitive to Russian sentiment," a source told the outlet. "They're being told there that it's dangerous."
The pair were due to arrive in Kyiv by plane, with the outlet previously reporting that Witkoff does not like taking the train to Kyiv.
Watch: Zelensky says he receives information about first airlines refusing flights to Russia
Alex Croft 5 September 2026 00:01
Finland investigating surveillance drone near south coast
Finland has said it is investigating whether a surveillance drone on the shore of its south coast has violated the Nordic country’s territory.
An investigation launched by the Border Guard authority seeks to determine where, when and how the aircraft entered Finnish territory and how it possibly crossed Finland's border.
Preliminary examination suggests the aircraft is a Geoscan 701 type drone, which is used by both state and civilian actors.
European country’s have repeatedly alleged drone incursions related to the Russia-Ukraine war in the past year, but the Border Guard said it could not confirm the drone's origin, operator or purpose at this stage.
The drone was intended for surveying and mapping and did not pose a danger to the public, the defence ministry said on Wednesday.
Alex Croft 4 September 2026 23:00
Two police officers killed in Russian attack on Dnipropetrovsk, say Ukrainian authorities
Two police officers have been killed in a Russian attack on the Dnipropetrovsk region, local authorities have said.
Another officer was injured in the drone strike on the Pavlohrad district.
“Two people died . One more person was injured. The enemy attacked 2 districts of the region with drones and artillery more than 10 times,” said Oleksandr Hanzha, head of the Dnipropetrovsk regional military administration.
"The enemy targeted the Bohdanivka hromada [administrative area] in the Pavlohrad district.
“A fire broke out and a car was damaged. Two police officers were killed. Another is in hospital in a critical condition."
Alex Croft 4 September 2026 22:01
Witkoff, Kushner heading abroad to discuss Ukraine peace, Trump says
Special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, Donald Trump's son-in-law, are heading abroad to attempt to forge a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine, the US president told reporters on Friday.
During comments in the Oval Office, Trump suggested the US had a fresh concrete proposal aimed at ending the war, which is now in its fifth year. He did not, however, elaborate on what that proposal would be, nor did he say if Witkoff and Kushner would be traveling to Ukraine, Russia or both nations.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Friday said the two men would fly to Ukraine on Sunday after visiting Moscow.
"We have an idea for peace," Trump said.
"I sent Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, two great negotiators. They've done a great job, and we sent them over to see whether or not we can get something done. And there may be a good chance that we'll do it."
The duo had been planning to travel to Moscow over the weekend followed by a visit to Kyiv, two sources previously told Reuters. However, the itinerary has been in flux in recent days, and the Kyiv section of the journey was still not completely certain, one of the sources said on Friday.
The Trump administration's attempts to settle the war in Ukraine have largely come to nothing, and negotiations stalled out in recent months.
In late August, CIA director John Ratcliffe traveled to Moscow in part to press counterparts there to consider a settlement, Reuters and several other media outlets reported.
Most Western intelligence officials doubt Russian President Vladimir Putin is interested in a short-term deal, while Ukrainian intelligence believes he is in fact likely to escalate, rather than de-escalate the war in the near term.
A Russian drone hit the headquarters of Ukraine's SBU security service in Kyiv on Friday in one of the most high-profile targets struck during the war.
Witkoff, who is effectively the lead US negotiator with respect to the war in Ukraine, has traveled to Moscow numerous times but has not yet visited Ukraine.
Bryony Gooch 4 September 2026 21:10
Russian general accused of masterminding attack on children’s hospital ‘shot in head’
A Russian general who was linked with an attack on a children’s hospital in Ukraine is seriously injured after being shot in the head, according to reports.
Major General Nikolai Varpakhovich is said to have been shot on Thursday morning in the village of Probuzhdenie near Engels, in Russia’s Saratov region.
Independent Russian outlet SotaVision said the attack was the third assassination attempt on Russian officers in the past two weeks.
Russian online newspaper Mash reported that the shooter rode up to a private home on a motorcycle and fired one bullet in the torso and one in the face. The air force officer’s driver was also reportedly shot but was able to call an ambulance.
Varpakhovich is believed to be in a critical condition in hospital, Mash reported.
Alex Croft 4 September 2026 21:01
Fallout from 'shameful' shootout in Kyiv intensifies as Ukrainian intelligence service doubles down on claims
Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) has maintained the claims which resulted in an armed confrontation between the country’s military intelligence agency (HUR) on Wednesday.
The SBU had formally accused Stepan Kaplunov, deputy commander of the anti-Kremlin Russian Volunteer Corps (RVC), of operating as an agent for Moscow’s Federal Security Service (FSB).
According to the SBU, Kaplunov was recruited to organize an FSB-ordered assassination of a prominent Russian opposition figure who was traveling to Kyiv for Ukraine’s Independence Day celebrations.
Investigators allege he was also tasked with targeting Ukrainian Defense Forces personnel in exchange for monetary compensation.
Alex Croft 4 September 2026 20:02
RVC Commander denies treason, alleges coercion in SBU Detention
RVC deputy commander Stepan Kaplunov, who has been accused of acting as a Russian spy by Ukraine’s Security Service, has denied all treason allegations.
Kaplunov claimed he was abducted near his Kyiv residence on August 23 by individuals identifying as state security officers and held without formal charges for nine days.
He stated interrogators threatened that he "could completely disappear" or be "buried in a grave," leading him to temporarily agree to their narrative regarding Russian contacts.
An official in Ukraine’s military intelligence agency has corroborated Kaplunov’s claims of an unlawful abduction.
Speaking on Radio Free Europe, the agency accused SBU operatives of seizing a military intelligence combat commander in broad daylight without due process.
Alex Croft 4 September 2026 19:01
Watch: Shootout erupts between Ukraine’s SBU and GUR forces in Kyiv
Alex Croft 4 September 2026 18:00
Why has Russia set its sights on Germany?
Suha Kidwai writes:
The motives behind Russia’s recent hybrid attacks on Germany are partly strategic, with Moscow seeking to exploit divisions in Germany over continuing support for Kyiv, explains Ian Bond, the deputy director of The Centre for European Reform (CER),
State elections are coming up in Germany where the far-right, pro-Russia party, Alternative for Germany (AfD) are topping the polls.
“With these attacks, it seems like Putin is trying to scare Germans into voting for a party who can show that they won’t have a problem with Russia,” he said.
Mr Bond said that voters opting for a party sympathetic to the Kremlin was a “puzzle” unique to Germany, that was not replicated in eastern European states.
But Putin’s targeting of Germany is not exceptional, cautioned Mr Bond.
Several states and institutions have been subject to the Kremlin’s aggression — including Poland and the Baltic states.
“Germany is bearing the brunt of recent attacks, but there is quite a lot of this going on,” he said.
“The message of this for the rest of Europe and NATO is that, while Russia may not be strong enough to launch direct attacks, it is doing everything it can to destabilise Europe, and try to scare away support for Ukraine.”
Mr Bond warned against potential German appeasement of Putin.
“Each one hopes that if he feeds the crocodile enough, the crocodile will eat him last," Mr Bond quoted. "Here, Putin is hoping that the rest of Europe will believe that if it feeds Ukraine to Russia — it’ll be the end of it all."
Alex Croft 4 September 2026 17:00
In pictures: Russian drone strikes Kyiv's SBU security service headquarters
Alex Croft 4 September 2026 16:00
