KYIV, Jan 17 (Reuters): A Ukrainian delegation is en route to the US for talks on security guarantees and a post-war recovery package, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Friday, expressing hope the documents could be signed on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos next week.
During the talks, Kyiv's team also hopes to get clarity from the US on the Russian stance towards US-backed diplomatic efforts to end the nearly four-year war, Zelenskiy told a news conference in Kyiv alongside Czech President Petr Pavel.
"I think we have worked well with the American side, we are just not on the same side on some issues," Zelenskiy said of the negotiations with Washington.
US President Donald Trump told Reuters earlier this week that he may meet with Zelenskiy at the WEF, a meeting which the Ukrainian leader has publicly sought.
Zelenskiy said that Ukraine had completed its part of the work on the documents outlining a "prosperity package" to unlock money for Ukraine's costly post-war recovery, as well as on US security guarantees designed to stop a future Russian attack. Ukrainian officials have said the country will need $800 billion for its post-war reconstruction.
Ukraine's ambassador to the US, Olga Stefanishyna, said senior Ukrainian officials would take part in bilateral talks on the two key agreements on Saturday in Miami.
"The purpose of the visit is to refine these agreements with American partners," Stefanishyna said in a post on Facebook, adding they "may be signed ... in Davos."
Ukraine's delegation will include the head of Zelenskiy's office, Kyrylo Budanov, secretary of Ukraine's national security and defence council, Rustem Umerov, and the head of Zelenskiy's parliamentary faction, Davyd Arakhamia, she added.
Washington has pushed Ukraine to agree to a peace framework that it will then present to Moscow, while Kyiv and its European allies have sought to ensure that Ukraine will not be attacked again by Russia in future.
Russia, Ukraine agree 'localised
ceasefire' for N plant repairs
Russia and Ukraine on Friday agreed to a localised ceasefire to allow repairs on the last remaining backup power line at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, the IAEA said on Friday.
Work on the line, which was damaged and disconnected as a result of military activity on January 2, should start "in the coming days", the UN nuclear watchdog said in a statement.
"This temporary ceasefire, the fourth we have negotiated, demonstrates the indispensable role that we continue to play," said IAEA director general Rafael Grossi.
The Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency said its team at the site heard "a large number of explosions, including some within the vicinity of the site".
"The team... has reported multiple air raid alarms each day over the past week and were informed that a military flying object had been observed approximately 10 kilometres (six miles) from the site," it added.
Zaporizhzhia is the biggest nuclear power plant in Europe and has been occupied by Russian forces since March 2022.
Situated on the Dnieper river, its six reactors have been shut down since the occupation.
But the site still needs electricity to maintain its cooling and security systems.
Moscow and Kyiv have repeatedly accused the other of risking a nuclear catastrophe by attacking the site.
