Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was due to hold urgent talks Thursday with leaders and officials from about 30 countries that are supporting Kyiv’s effort to obtain fair terms for an end to the war with Russia.
The leaders of Germany, Britain and France were among those expected to take part in the meeting of Ukraine’s allies, dubbed the Coalition of the Willing, via video link.
Zelenskyy indicated the talks were hastily arranged as Kyiv officials scramble to avoid getting boxed in by U.S. President Donald Trump’s demands for a swift settlement. European governments are trying to help steer the peace negotiations because they say their own security is at stake.
Trump said Wednesday that he and European leaders discussed proposals by phone in “pretty strong terms,” adding that Zelenskyy “has to be realistic” about his country’s position on a peace plan that would cede Ukrainian territory to Russia. He didn’t elaborate.
Trump’s latest effort to broker a settlement is taking longer than he wanted. He initially set a hard deadline for Kyiv to accept his peace plan before Thanksgiving. Previous Washington deadlines for reaching a peace deal have also passed without making a breakthrough.
Russia is also keen to show Trump it is engaging with his peace efforts, hoping to avoid any further U.S. sanctions. Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Thursday that Russia has relayed to Washington “additional proposals … concerning collective security guarantees” that Ukraine and Europe say are needed to deter future aggression.
“We understand that when discussing security guarantees, we cannot limit ourselves to Ukraine alone,” Lavrov said. He didn’t offer details of the Kremlin’s proposals.
Meanwhile, Ukraine launched one of its biggest drone attacks of the nearly four-year war overnight, forcing flights in and out of all four Moscow airports to be halted for seven hours. Airports in eight other cities across Russia also faced restrictions, Russian civil aviation authority Rosaviatsia said Thursday.
The Russian Defense Ministry said air defenses intercepted 287 Ukrainian drones over multiple Russian regions.
The display of Ukraine’s military capability to strike deep inside Russia appeared as a counter to the Kremlin’s argument that its invasion is overwhelming for its smaller neighbor.
Russian President Vladimir Putin wants to portray himself as negotiating from a position of strength, analysts say. But since launching the full-scale invasion in February 2022, Russia has captured only around 20% of Ukraine.
There are signs that the negotiations are coming to a crossroads. The talks are at “a critical moment,” European leaders said in a statement Wednesday.
Next week, Ukraine will coordinate with European countries on a bilateral level, Zelenskyy said late Wednesday.
“Ukraine is working swiftly,” he said.
European Union countries are due to hold a regular summit in Brussels at the end of next week.
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