Eurotopics.net

US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner have met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow and then with Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelensky in Kyiv to discuss ways to bring the war to an end. After the meetings Witkoff called on both sides to make compromises. Zelensky said that security and economic guarantees for Ukraine had been discussed. Moscow described the talks as "extremely frank" and "constructive".

Former General Ratko Mladić, who died in custody in The Hague on 27 August, has been honoured with a state funeral in Serbia. The EU has condemned the ceremony as "glorification of war criminals". Eight thousand Muslim men and boys were murdered in Srebrenica in 1995 at Mladić's behest. Commentators take a critical view of the way Serbia, a candidate for EU membership, is dealing with its past.

In 2015, a majority of countries worldwide agreed to aim to limit global warming to a maximum of 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. The UN has now announced that this target can no longer be met and that the average rise in temperatures will be higher. The media examine what can – and must – be done now.

In response to the finding that Russia was behind the Leipzig drone incident, Germany is closing the Russian Consulate-General in Bonn and the Russian House in Berlin, which is suspected of serving as a front for Russian agents. Entry restrictions for Russians and a crackdown on the country's shadow fleet have also been announced. Meanwhile, the EU is preparing another sanctions package.