European security advisors discuss peace proposals in Kyiv ahead of leaders' summit

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — European national security advisors arrived in Kyiv on Saturday to discuss the latest peace proposals, as a U.S.-led diplomatic push to end the nearly 4-year-old war in Ukraine intensifies. The discussions come ahead of a meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European leaders next week.

“A busy working day lies ahead: security and economic issues, work on framework documents, coordination of further steps with partners,” Ukraine’s chief negotiator, Rustem Umerov, said in a post on X. He said representatives of Canada and NATO were attending, in addition to representatives of European countries and bodies.

Ukraine is coordinating security guarantee plans with European partners that would include a multilateral framework agreement involving Ukrainian forces as the first line of defense, European-led troops deployed in Ukraine, and American “backstop” support, according to Ukrainian negotiator Oleksandr Bevz.

Zelenskyy on Tuesday announced plans for meetings with officials from about 30 countries, dubbed the Coalition of the Willing, which support Kyiv’s effort to end the war with Russia on acceptable terms.

Saturday's meeting of national security advisers from those countries in is due to be followed by a meeting of the countries’ leaders on Tuesday in Paris.

The latest round of talks comes after Zelenskyy on Friday appointed the head of Ukraine’s military intelligence as his new chief of staff.

The president framed the appointment of Gen. Kyrylo Budanov as part of a broader effort to sharpen the focus on security, defense development and diplomacy.

Meanwhile, the death toll from a Russian missile attack in the city of Kharkiv on Friday increased to two, including a 3-year-old boy, Kharkiv regional head Oleh Syniehubov wrote on Telegram Saturday.

An overnight Russian drone attack on the Mykolaiv region targeted critical infrastructure and left some communities without electricity Saturday, according to regional head, Vitalii Kim. He said engineers spent the night working to restore power and there were no casualties reported following the attack.