Peace Talks Loom in October Amid Drone War

Ukraine's intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov said trilateral peace talks between Kyiv, Moscow and Western partners could begin as early as October, the most concrete timeline yet. US envoy Jared Kushner backed the mood, calling his Moscow and Kyiv trips "very successful" and saying Washington now has a clear picture of the next steps. Zelensky, meanwhile, pressed the EU to sanction oligarchs Usmanov and Fridman over war financing, while PM Koretsky said Ukraine is far better prepared for winter, with fuller gas storage. On the ground the war kept exacting its toll: drones set warehouses ablaze in Kyiv region's Boryspil district and damaged a building and a house in Brovary, destroyed an enterprise in Rivne region, and in Volyn hurt five people and hit a train near Lutsk. Ukraine is now piloting gas-station systems that cut fuel pumps automatically when air raid sirens sound. The threat crossed borders too: Romania neutralized drone wreckage carrying a live warhead near Tulcea and the Black Sea, scrambling F-16s in its 23rd airspace incident this year. Elsewhere, Serbia's EU bid drew criticism after Belgrade buried war criminal Mladic with state honors; France is probing whether Friday's train derailment that injured 44 was sabotage; and Britain's Reform UK took in a second £36 million donation in two days, for £72 million from two donors.