Axios reports CIA Director Ratcliffe proposed a Trump-Putin-Zelensky trilateral summit…

Axios reports, citing two sources briefed on the matter, that CIA Director John Ratcliffe proposed a trilateral meeting between Trump, Putin, and Zelensky during his covert Moscow trip earlier this week — the first time he's gotten personally involved in the diplomatic push to broker a breakthrough, after his visit's primary purpose (per earlier reporting) was warning Russia against Baltic escalation and pressing it to cut support for Iran. US officials briefed Zelensky on the Moscow talks and the trilateral proposal on Friday. Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov and spokesman Peskov have both downplayed the prospect, with Peskov saying Sunday a trilateral would be possible ‘only to formalize agreements’ already reached — not as a venue for negotiating them. On Ukraine, Russian combat losses reached approximately 1,488,200 as of Aug 31 (+1,600), with UAV losses hitting a monthly high of 2,055 in a single day (490,402 cumulative). Ukraine's Defense Forces struck the Kirishi oil refinery in Russia's Leningrad region overnight — one of Russia's largest, with roughly 20 million tonnes annual capacity — and hit Russian air defense infrastructure at the Yeysk and Millerovo military airfields, reportedly destroying a Pantsir-S1 system and radar stations at Yeysk.