Ukraine-Russia war latest: Kyiv air raid alerts at highest level of war so far as Moscow steps up attacks - Zelensky calls for air defence and energy support if trilateral talks with Putin and Trump f

Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., criticized Republican leadership on a number of issues including the Trump administration’s approach to ending the war in Ukraine, calling ongoing negotiations in Kyiv and Moscow “pretty talk,

President Zelenskyy said Putin "needs Trump" and may accept US pressure for winter de-escalation ahead of the US midterm elections.

Trump has called Putin’s moves ‘genius.’ He has also canceled a meeting with the Russian president and accused him of ‘destroying Russia.’

"I've had good talks with him. He's not going to be attacking a NATO territory," Trump said of Putin.

Zelensky held talks with Witkoff and Kushner on Sunday, after their three-hour talks with Putin in Moscow on Saturday. He lauded their “very substantive” conversation and said Ukraine was ready for trilateral talks involving Russia, the US and Ukraine.

Organizers said they did not want “to provoke, but to pause power for a moment and highlight something human.”

US President Donald Trump is expected to speak by phone with Russian leader Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on 7 September after his envoys brief him on their latest