Zelenskyy To Host Security Talks As Russia Presses Drone Attacks Across Ukraine

"Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will host security talks in Kyiv on January 3 with Western partners as Moscow kept up its aerial barrage of Ukraine, including 95 overnight drone strikes. Ukraine's Air Force said it intercepted 80 of the drones and reported no casualties, but an earlier strike on January 2 that hit a residential area of the northeastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv injured more than 31 people and killed two, including a 3-year-old child."

"The strikes and security talks come amid a flurry of US-backed efforts to push for an end to the nearly four-year war in Ukraine. Zelenskyy will be joined by representatives from 15 European Union and NATO countries for the talks in Kyiv, including a US delegation that will join over video link, and the discussions follow weeks of stepped-up initiatives and pressure from Washington to broker a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine."

"Against that backdrop, the Ukrainian president named military intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov as his new top aide on January 2. Once formally appointed, he will replace Andriy Yermak, a Zelenskyy confidante and prominent powerbroker who resigned in November after investigators raided his house as part of a sweeping corruption probe. Budanov has built up a strong reputation in Ukraine, credited with a series of daring operations against Russia."

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will host security talks in Kyiv on January 3 with representatives from 15 EU and NATO countries amid sustained Russian aerial attacks, including 95 overnight drone strikes. Ukraine's Air Force reported intercepting 80 drones and no casualties from those strikes, while a January 2 attack in Kharkiv injured more than 31 people and killed two, including a 3-year-old. The talks follow intensified US-backed efforts and a Washington 20-point plan, with unresolved issues over territory in eastern Ukraine and the Zaporizhzhya nuclear plant. Zelenskyy will meet European leaders in France on January 6. On January 2 he named Kyrylo Budanov as his new top aide, replacing Andriy Yermak; Budanov is credited with daring operations against Russia.

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