Two days of Ukraine-backed peace talks begin in Malta

Two days of Ukraine-backed talks on ways to bring about an end to the war with Russia, featuring representatives from dozens of countries, began in Malta on Saturday.

The third round of such talks, which are endorsed by Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelensky, have however been dismissed by Moscow.

Kiev is expected to use the gathering to build support for its 10-point peace plan, as it did at the previous rounds in Jeddah and Copenhagen.

"International support for the Ukrainian Peace Formula is growing," the head of Ukraine's presidential office, Andriy Yermak, wrote on Saturday in a post on the platform X, formerly Twitter.

The number of countries which participated at the first round of talks in Denmark was only 15. Yermak on Saturday said more than 65 countries were taking part this time.

The Valletta talks will be held behind closed doors and Malta's government has remained tight-lipped about arrangements.

However, a Ukrainian government spokesperson said the discussions would focus on five key areas: energy, food and nuclear security, humanitarian issues and restoring Ukraine's borders.

The talks are expected to feature representatives from the US, the EU and UK, as well as Turkey, which has presented itself as a mediator between Ukraine and Russia.

South Africa, Brazil and India will also send representatives to the talks. All three countries are part of the BRICS group which includes Russia. South Africa and India have not condemned Russia's invasion of Ukraine and Brazil has held back from sending weapons to Ukraine.

China, which as a Russian ally has given implicit backing to Moscow over the war, has not said whether it will be attending. Chinese representatives attended the talks in Jeddah in the summer.