European security advisers discuss peace proposals in Ukraine ahead of leaders’ summit

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) – European national security advisers 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. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European leaders meet 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 U.S. “backstop” support, according to Ukrainian negotiator Oleksandr Bevz.

Ukraine’s deputy prime minister, Taras Kachka, said Saturday that international partners have reached consensus on an economic support package of about $800 billion for Ukraine over the next decade.

The package, based on calculations by the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the European Union, would cover damage compensation, reconstruction, economic stability and a $200 billion growth “booster” and is tied to Ukraine’s EU accession reforms.

Specific funding sources have not yet been identified, economy minister Oleksii Sobolev said, though roughly $500 billion is expected from public grants and concessional loans, with details to be worked out over the next two weeks.

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 will be followed by a meeting of the countries’ leaders on Tuesday in Paris.

Zelenskyy on Saturday proposed Defense Minister Denys Shmyhal to become the energy minister and first deputy prime minister.

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 an effort to sharpen the focus on security, defense development and diplomacy.

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