Ukraine's allies in Kyiv for talks on ending war

Officials from 15 countries joined the meeting

KYIV:

Security advisers from Ukraine's top allies met in Kyiv on Saturday for talks on a US-brokered plan to end the war with Russia, days after Kyiv announced a deal was "90 percent" ready.

Officials from 15 countries including Britain, France and Germany as well as representatives from NATO and the European Union joined the meeting, the first of several planned for the new year.

US special envoy Steve Witkoff also joined virtually, a Ukrainian official told AFP, though the United States' large-scale military attack on Venezuela earlier in the day overshadowed proceedings.

A follow-up summit of European leaders was expected to take place in France on Tuesday, according to Ukraine.

"National security advisers from European countries have arrived in Kyiv," Ukraine's chief negotiator Rustem Umerov said in a post on Telegram. He announced in a later post that the meeting had started.

"The first part of the meeting focused on framework documents, including security guarantees and approaches to the peace plan, as well as the sequence of further joint steps," he said.

Diplomatic efforts to end Europe's deadliest conflict since World War II have gained pace in recent weeks, though both Moscow and Kyiv remain at odds over the key issue of territory in a post-war settlement.

Russia, which occupies around 20 percent of Ukraine, is pushing for full control of the country's eastern Donbas region as part of a deal.

But Kyiv has warned ceding ground will embolden Moscow and said it will not sign a peace deal that fails to deter Russia from invading again.

Speaking at a press conference on Saturday evening, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that if diplomacy to end the war failed, his country would continue to defend itself.

"If Russia blocks all of this — and as I said, it depends on our partners — if our partners do not compel Russia to stop the war, there will be another path: to defend ourselves," he said.

Deadly strikes

Saturday's meeting capped a week marked by deadly strikes, as well as a Russian claim — denied by Ukraine — that Kyiv had launched drones at a residence of President Vladimir Putin in an unsuccessful attack.

Russia accused Kyiv of firing drones at a hotel and cafe in the Moscow-held part of Ukraine's southern Kherson region early Thursday, killing what it said were 28 people celebrating the New Year. Ukraine says it was a military gathering.