Russia, Ukraine agree to halt strikes during U.S. envoys' visits

Russia and Ukraine Saturday agreed to halt aerial strikes on each other's capitals for three days during U.S. envoys' visits to the two countries in the latest push to negotiate an end to a four-and-a-half-year war.

Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered Russian forces not to strike Kiev for three days beginning "at midnight today," Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Saturday as Putin met with U.S. envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff in Moscow later in the evening.

Following a phone call with U.S. President Donald Trump, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Saturday that Ukraine was also prepared to refrain from strikes on Moscow, effective immediately through Sept. 7.

Zelensky added that the plan for diplomatic meetings in Kiev on Sept. 6 had been approved and that Ukraine was awaiting Witkoff and Kushner for what he called a "substantive conversation."

Witkoff and Kushner landed in Moscow earlier on Sept. 5 and are expected to travel to Kiev on Sept. 6.

Russia, Ukraine agree to halt strikes during U.S. envoys' visits

The European Union's border agency on Friday announced that it has dispatched a patrol vessel to the English Channel for the first time to support French search and rescue operations related to small, overcrowded boats at sea.

The European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex) also said it plans to deploy additional vessels to join French patrols in the coming months.

In recent years, a large number of irregular migrants have attempted to cross the English Channel from France to the United Kingdom. The smuggling boats are often dangerously overcrowded and operate under hazardous conditions.

As of early August, 15 people had died this year while attempting to cross the Channel. On August 4, a total of 173 people were rescued by French and British maritime rescue services from a smuggling boat that caught fire in the English Channel.

EU deploys patrol vessel to English Channel to tackle migration crisis