Zelenskyy to Hold Urgent Peace Talks   12/11 06:20

   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.

   KYIV, Ukraine (AP) -- 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.

   German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Thursday that he, British Prime 
Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron suggested to Trump 
that they finalize the peace proposals together with U.S. officials over the 
weekend. There may also be talks in Berlin early next week, with or without 
American officials, he said.

   The main issue to be resolved is "what territories and concessions Ukraine 
is prepared to make," Merz added.

   "The work we are doing together remains extremely difficult. There is a very 
simple reason for this. President Putin is relentlessly continuing his brutal 
war against the Ukrainian civilian population, and at the same time he is 
clearly playing for time in the negotiations," Merz said.

   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, and European Union countries are due to 
hold a regular summit in Brussels at the end of next week.

   Russia has new proposals on security

   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.

   Putin has framed Europe as an obstacle to a peace settlement, and Lavrov 
again accused Europe of seeking to prolong the war.

   He charged that Western Europe "is only thinking about a ceasefire, catching 
its breath, and once again preparing Zelenskyy" for war.

   Ukrainian drones hit Russian oil rig, disrupt Moscow flights

   Meanwhile, Ukrainian long-range drones hit a Russian oil rig in the Caspian 
Sea for the first time, according to an official in the Security Service of 
Ukraine who was not authorized to speak publicly about the attack and spoke on 
condition of anonymity.

   The oil rig is located in the northern part of the Caspian Sea, about 1,000 
kilometers (600 miles) from Ukraine, and belongs to Russia's second biggest oil 
company, Lukoil, the official told The Associated Press. The rig took four 
hits, halting the extraction of oil and gas from over 20 wells, he said.

   Also, 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.