Overview
- Pope Leo XIV renewed his public appeal for an end to the fighting and condemned recent attacks on civilians, saying he hopes current mediation efforts will ‘‘bear concrete fruit’’.
- U.S. presidential envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner met Russian leaders in Moscow and then arrived in Kyiv on Sunday, September 6, to meet Ukrainian officials as part of a renewed push for negotiations.
- Fighting and strikes continue across Ukraine, with emergency services reporting deaths, injuries and near-constant air-raid alerts that have damaged homes and public infrastructure.
- The Holy See has been active diplomatically, including Archbishop Paul Gallagher’s recent talks in Moscow that stressed the conflict cannot be solved by military means and must end.
- There are reports of cross-border incidents, including a Ukrainian drone strike into Russia that media say killed one person, but the envoy visits have produced no confirmed agreements and the situation remains volatile.