The Albany Gazette - Ukraine's allies in Kyiv for talks on plan to end war

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.

- 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.

A woman and three-year-old child died in a Russian missile strike on Ukraine's second largest city of Kharkiv late Friday, according to the region's governor.

And early Saturday, Russian bombardment of a Kyiv-held part of the southern Kherson region left two people dead, according to the region's governor.

Russia made bigger advances on the battlefield last year than in any other year since it launched its invasion in 2022, according to an AFP analysis of data from the Institute for the Study of War.

As the year kicked off, Zelensky announced sweeping changes to his top circle, naming a new chief of staff and defence minister on Friday while announcing plans on Saturday to replace several regional leaders.

Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, describing it as a "special military operation" to prevent the expansion of NATO -- a war aim that Kyiv has called a lie.

Moscow has since fired on Ukrainian towns and cities in daily drone and missile attacks while waging battles that have reduced entire urban areas to rubble.

(B.Ramirez--TAG)