Ukraine hosts allies in Kyiv for talks on US-backed peace plan

(MENAFN) Security advisors from Ukraine’s key international partners convened in Kyiv on Saturday to discuss a US-mediated initiative aimed at ending the conflict with Russia, shortly after Kyiv announced that a deal was “90 per cent” complete.

Representatives from 15 nations, including Britain, France, and Germany, alongside officials from NATO and the European Union, attended the gathering, marking the first of several meetings planned for the New Year.

US special envoy Steve Witkoff participated virtually, as confirmed by Ukrainian officials, although the United States’ large-scale military action in Venezuela earlier in the day drew attention away from the talks.

Ukraine indicated that a follow-up summit of European leaders would take place in France on Tuesday.

“National security advisers from European countries have arrived in Kyiv,” Ukraine’s chief negotiator Rustem Umerov wrote on Telegram. He later confirmed that the discussions had begun.

“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,” Umerov added.

Efforts to end Europe’s deadliest conflict since World War II have intensified in recent weeks, but Moscow and Kyiv remain in disagreement over territorial matters in any post-war settlement.

Russia, which currently occupies roughly 20 percent of Ukraine, seeks full control of the eastern Donbas region as part of any agreement. Kyiv, however, has stressed that conceding territory would encourage further Russian aggression and has refused to sign a peace deal that does not prevent future invasions.

Saturday’s talks followed a week marked by deadly attacks and a Russian allegation—denied by Kyiv—that drones were used in an unsuccessful attempt on President Vladimir Putin’s residence.

Moscow claimed that Ukrainian drones targeted a hotel and café in the Russian-controlled area of southern Kherson early Thursday, resulting in 28 deaths among New Year’s celebrations. Ukraine maintained that the incident involved a military assembly.

In Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, a missile strike on Friday killed a woman and a three-year-old child, according to regional authorities. Early Saturday, Russian bombardment in a Kyiv-held section of Kherson killed two more people.

An analysis of data from the Institute for the Study of War found that Russia made more significant battlefield gains last year than in any previous year since its 2022 invasion.

As 2026 began, President Volodymyr Zelensky implemented sweeping changes in his top team, appointing a new chief of staff and defense minister on Friday and announcing plans to replace several regional leaders on Saturday.

Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, framing it as a “special military operation” to block NATO expansion—a rationale Kyiv has repeatedly called false. Since then, Moscow has carried out daily missile and drone attacks while engaging in combat that has devastated many urban centers.

MENAFN04012026000045017640ID1110552554