Negotiators to Moscow and Kyiv, Judge Issues Order on Arch, Western Wildfires

**Ayesha Rascoe** (0:02)
Provocations and Plots Across Europe.

**Scott Simon** (0:05)
Including what Germany says was a failed drone attack on one of its airports. Is Putin behind it all?

**Ayesha Rascoe** (0:11)
I'm Ayesha Rascoe.

**Scott Simon** (0:13)
And I'm Scott Simon, and this is Up First from NPR News.

**Ayesha Rascoe** (0:19)
The Russian president is said to be feeling emboldened. We have details from Moscow.

**Scott Simon** (0:25)
President Trump wants his arch.

**Don Beyer** (0:27)
250 feet is twice as tall as the Lincoln Memorial. You'll be able to see this from almost any place inside the Beltway.

**Scott Simon** (0:34)
We look at the preparations underway.

**Ayesha Rascoe** (0:36)
An 8 million acres of fire in the American West this year, we go to Washington state.

**Scott Simon** (0:42)
So please stay with us. We've got the news you need to start your weekend.

**Ayesha Rascoe** (0:55)
President Trump says he's reviving efforts to end Russia's war in Ukraine and sending envoys to Moscow and Kyiv to that end. Here he is at the White House yesterday.

**Donald Trump** (1:07)
Two great negotiators. They've done a great job.
And we sent them over to see whether or not we can get something done. And there may be a good chance that we'll do it.

**Scott Simon** (1:17)
The negotiators are the president's son-in-law, Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff. They arrived in Moscow today. So that's where we'll begin today's podcast, which then bears Charles Maynes. Charles, thanks for being with us.

**Charles Maynes** (1:29)
Morning, Scott.

**Scott Simon** (1:30)
What do we know about the timing of the visit?

**Charles Maynes** (1:32)
Well, you know, we've been hearing rumors of Witkoff and Kushner coming all summer, only to see the trip repeatedly pushed back. And of course, these two have been busy, deeply involved with negotiations over Iran, Israel and the war in Gaza.
But their re-engagement on Ukraine now comes as some things are changing with Russia's war. Keep in mind, CIA Director John Ratcliffe was recently in Moscow for a brief visit with his Russian counterparts in the intelligence community. Presumably, Ukraine was part of those discussions. So it could be there's a new diplomatic window here, but the prevailing view is that the US is concerned this conflict is about to escalate even further than it already has. How so?
Well, with the front lines essentially stalled, both sides have turned to air attacks to inflict maximum damage on the other. That's meant near daily Ukrainian drone strikes on Russian energy and logistics infrastructure here that's caused, for example, widespread gas shortages. And Russia, meanwhile, is openly promising another winter of misery for Ukraine, vowing to dismantle its energy infrastructure entirely. Something they really can do, almost at will, now that Kiev is low on US-made interceptors like the Patriot missiles. So both sides are also, I should say, hacking away at the other's ability to export grain through the Black Sea region. That's raised concerns about global food shortages as we head into the winter months. And if that's not bad enough, there's also a possible new front in Europe, with NATO allies increasingly angry over alleged Russian hybrid attacks and sabotage that risk the war spilling beyond Ukraine.

**Scott Simon** (2:57)
Charles, why would Russia want to provoke NATO?

**Charles Maynes** (3:01)
Well, Russian President Vladimir Putin insists they don't, and that this is all kind of anti-Russian hype by European politicians, even though he has threatened to respond to European military aid to Ukraine. And clearly something is going on. I mean, there's been a spate of sabotage and cyber attack incidents across Europe, even most recently a failed drone attack on a German airport. And if indeed these incidents are sponsored by Russia, and for example, the Germans now openly say the airport incident was, they present a challenge because these attacks are seemingly not enough to trigger a military response by NATO, but they still undermine European security.
So how to defuse the situation? Enter Witkoff and Kushner, perhaps, two figures that Putin has made clear a welcome in Moscow.

**Scott Simon** (3:43)
What do you think they can expect?

**Charles Maynes** (3:45)
Well, safe passage for one. That's no small thing given that Ukraine has threatened to swarm Russian skies with drones to the point where it's unsafe to fly.
Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelensky, last night released a video saying that Ukraine would ensure the normal functioning of Russian airspace for the Americans, adding that he wanted their trip to be constructive and substantive as possible. To that end, maybe the most constructive and substantive part of it will be the fact that Witkoff and Kushner are not only coming to Moscow, where they've been several times, but now finally Kiev, a place they've never been, despite repeat invitations from the Ukrainians ever since Trumps began trying to negotiate an end to this conflict.