Zelenskyy Says US Envoys Will Visit Kyiv and Moscow as Russian Strikes Hit Capital

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says two senior US envoys involved in Washington's efforts to broker an end to the war in Ukraine will travel to Kyiv in the coming days before holding further talks in Moscow.

Zelenskyy said he spoke on September 3 with US special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, describing ongoing contact with the American negotiating team as continuous.

"I have just held a meeting with the team that is engaged in negotiations with representatives of the president of America," Zelenskyy said in a post on Telegram.

He said preliminary dates had been discussed for an in-person meeting and confirmed that the US representatives intended to hold talks in both Ukraine and Russia.

"We expect to see representatives here in Kyiv," Zelenskyy said. "They also said they will have meetings in both Moscow and Kyiv."

He added that Ukraine welcomed continued US involvement and was prepared for substantive discussions.

Witkoff and Kushner have emerged as President Donald Trump's leading representatives in efforts to negotiate a peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine, more than four years after Moscow launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.

Trump has previously said the two envoys would travel to Kyiv in the coming weeks. Such a visit would be their first to Ukraine since taking leading roles in the administration's diplomatic efforts.

Both men have already travelled to Moscow and held discussions with Russian officials during Trump's second term.

Zelenskyy previously said on August 31 that he had held a "detailed and constructive" conversation with the two US representatives and that Ukraine would wait to see what progress Washington's envoys could achieve.

Fresh Russian Strikes on Kyiv

Zelenskyy's comments came as Kyiv faced another wave of Russian attacks.

The Kyiv military administration initially reported that one person had been killed, but later said the death had not been confirmed. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said nine people were injured.

Klitschko said one daytime strike hit a high-rise residential building, triggering a fire and causing significant damage to the structure.

Videos circulating on social media, which could not immediately be independently verified, appeared to show a large fireball erupting from an apartment building.

Russian forces have increasingly carried out attacks during daylight hours, including repeated strikes on Kyiv. The shift has added to the pressure on residents who had become accustomed to dealing primarily with overnight air raids.

Ukraine is also confronting newer generations of Russian drones, including faster jet-powered variants that are forcing Ukrainian air defences to adapt.

Among the weapons being used by Russia is the Geran-4, a modified drone derived from the Iranian-designed Shahed series. Iran supplied Moscow with Shahed drones during the early stages of Russia's invasion.

One of the deadliest recent incidents involving a Russian drone occurred in Myla, a village near Kyiv, where a Geran-4 struck a munitions warehouse. The resulting explosions killed at least 38 people in the surrounding area.

Zelenskyy criticised those responsible for allowing a facility containing explosives to operate so close to residential communities.

Trump Seeks Compensation for Ukraine Aid

The diplomatic developments came as Trump said European countries should compensate the United States for military equipment and ammunition previously supplied to Ukraine.

Trump also appeared to indicate that Washington could restrict some future weapons sales to its allies, although he said the US was building up its own stocks in preparation for possible contingencies.

He argued that the previous US administration had provided Ukraine and NATO with vast quantities of military equipment at little or no cost to European governments.

However, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on September 2 that Washington and Kyiv were negotiating a licence that could enable Ukraine to manufacture missiles for the US-made Patriot air-defence system.

The proposal would revive an idea that Trump appeared to have played down earlier in August.

Russian Vessel Seized in Norway

Separately, Norwegian authorities seized a Russian vessel in the Arctic as part of legal action linked to a compensation claim by Ukrainian state energy company Naftogaz.

The company is seeking to enforce a $4.2 billion award relating to assets seized by Russia after its occupation and annexation of Crimea in 2014.

Norwegian officials said the Professor Molchanov was seized late on September 2 in Barentsburg, a Russian-operated settlement on the Svalbard archipelago.

The Kremlin condemned the seizure as piracy and said it had summoned Norway's ambassador to lodge a formal protest.

The incident adds another point of tension between Russia and a NATO member at a time when geopolitical competition in the Arctic is intensifying.