US diplomacy under fire as Russia escalates attacks on Ukrainian officials

United States envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner person been seen arsenic embarrassing and amateurish aft their latest effort to unafraid a ceasefire successful Russia’s warfare successful Ukraine, suggesting that European patience with the US medication of Donald Trump is moving out.

“Jared Kushner’s incompetence was connected afloat show this weekend,” wrote Slate magazine. “The Witkoff-Kushner circus enactment is an embarrassment,” said the Daily Telegraph, portion the Financial Times titled its story, “Kushner and Witkoff’s unsighted amateurism.”

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Washington has pursued negotiations without its European allies since US President Donald Trump chopped disconnected subject assistance to Ukraine and agreed to conscionable with Putin past year.

Witkoff caused outrage aft helium openly flattered Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“When we retire, we’ll person each these unthinkable stories and unthinkable memories, and yours volition beryllium close astatine the apical of it all,” helium told Putin.

Ukraine stopped firing missiles and drones astatine Moscow betwixt September 5 and 7 to alteration the US envoys craft to alert safely betwixt the capitals.

Russia besides paused attacks arsenic they visited Kyiv.

“Please travel much often, truthful that our radical person the accidental to unrecorded normally,” Ukrainian person Volodymyr Zelenskyy joked astatine a media league with them.

(Al Jazeera)

But arsenic soon arsenic Witkoff and Kushner left, Russia showered drones and missiles connected Kyiv sidesplitting astatine slightest 4 civilians connected September 8 and 9.

Russia has shown small motion that it is acceptable for a deal. Putin’s diplomatic aide, Valery Ushakov, told the US envoys that Moscow was committed to achieving each its goals successful Ukraine.

“Russia intends to execute the goals of the peculiar subject operation,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov asserted connected September 8.

“Of course, we’re each funny successful ending the struggle arsenic rapidly arsenic possible. Moreover, it indispensable extremity connected our terms, successful bid to forestall the anticipation of it recurring successful the aboriginal oregon spreading into a planetary conflict,” erstwhile Russian President Dmitry Medvedev told Vedomosti paper 2 days later. “Nuclear weapons tin beryllium utilized successful definite circumstances. This isn’t a scare tactic,” helium warned.

Zelenskyy has insisted that lone leverage connected the battlefield volition unit Moscow to negotiate.

“Without a beardown presumption connected the ground, determination volition lone beryllium ultimatums,” Zelenskyy said this week.

Witkoff and Kushner arrived successful Kyiv connected the 4th day of Ukraine’s Kharkiv offensive, which reclaimed 11,500sq km (4,440 quadrate miles) of bluish Ukrainian territory from Russian occupation, including much than 500 settlements.

Shortly aft that, Russian forces withdrew from astir 8,000sq km (3,100 quadrate miles) of territory it had occupied connected the close slope of the Dnipro River successful the confederate portion of Kherson, deeming it to beryllium indefensible.

Both actions, on with Russia antecedently lifting sieges connected Kyiv, Sumy and Chernihiv, reduced the Russian concern from much than a 4th of Ukrainian territory to little than a fifth.

Since then, Russia has made lone marginal gains for mounting losses.

Ukraine’s subject enactment said that since the opening of the war, Russia has suffered 1.5m losses of unit – some soldiers killed oregon incapacitated.

This year, Russia has again suffered setbacks, notably during the Oleksandrivka counteroffensive, which reclaimed 745sq km (290 quadrate miles) successful the eastbound and confederate Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Dnipropetrovsk regions.

Russian targets

Russia has appeared to person escalated its targeting of Ukrainian officials successful caller days.

On September 4, a drone struck the office of Ukraine’s interior information service, the SBU. “The drone was deliberately directed astatine the bureau of the Head of the Security Service of Ukraine, Oleksandr Poklad,” said the SBU.

Ukrainian defence advisor Serhiy Beskrestnov said it was a jet-powered Geran-4 Russian drone – 1 of 2 launched from the occupied eastbound Donetsk portion and sent successful tandem towards Kyiv.

One of the SBU’s main tasks is to apprehension Russian agents guiding force artillery and drone strikes connected Ukrainian soil. Beskrestnov believed an cause wrong 5km (3 miles) of SBU office directed the drone intended for Poklad successful its last stages.

A worker from Ukraine’s 24th Separate Mechanised Brigade successful the Donetsk region, September 9, 2026 [Anatolii Stepanov/Reuters]

“I instructed Poklad to respond appropriately, importantly and, if possible, successful kind,” said Zelenskyy, aboriginal adding that “the geographical areas for the effect person been determined”.

On September 8, Russia besides came adjacent to blowing up Zelenskyy’s level arsenic it waited connected the tarmac the Moldovan capital, Chisinau.

The level was carrying Zelenskyy, his woman Olena and Moldovan premier Maia Sandu to Oslo for the ceremonial of King Harald V.

Norwegian premier Jonas Gahr Store said the level came adjacent to being hit.

Both incidents came aft Zelenskyy warned airlines connected September 1 that “Russian airspace is becoming wholly dangerous” and was “in effect closing” owed to Ukrainian long-range drone operations.

Ukraine’s long-range strikes

Ukraine continued its long-range operations during the past week, targeting Russian lipid and subject infrastructure.

Between September 4 and 10, Ukraine struck astatine slightest 7 refineries and state condensate processing plants, 2 of them astatine an unprecedented 3,000km (1,860 miles) scope from its borderline – the Novy Urengoy and Purovsky state condensate plants, are beyond the Ural Mountains successful the Siberian Arctic portion of Yamalia.

Closer to home, Ukraine besides struck the subject airfield astatine Rostov-on-Don and the Russian larboard of Makhachkala connected the Caspian Sea.

The Ukrainian subject said they were “used to proviso subject unit successful some directions: components and onslaught UAVs of the Shahed benignant from Iran to the Russian Federation, [and] explosives, components for drones and ammunition from the Russian Federation to Iran”.

Ukraine sees the attacks arsenic effective, since Russia’s concern ministry reported a $67.9bn shortage for the archetypal 8 months of the war. That is one-and-a-half times its shortage during the aforesaid play past twelvemonth and acold beyond the $44.5bn shortage budgeted for successful each of 2026.

The ministry cited rising expenditures and falling revenues from lipid and gas.

Those revenues were 16 percent little than the archetypal 8 months of 2025, astatine conscionable nether $58bn, said Ukraine’s Foreign Intelligence Service.

The expenditures are astir surely military. The Intelligence Service assessed that Russia spent a grounds $126.7bn connected defence successful the archetypal fractional of this year. That is 30 percent higher than successful the aforesaid play of past year, 65 percent higher than successful the archetypal fractional of 2024 and 145 percent higher than successful the corresponding play of 2023.