Ukrainian President Zelenskyy presses Western allies for clear postwar security guarantees

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says his government is seeking specific guarantees from Western allies on how post-war security support would function when the nearly five-year war sparked by Russia's full-scale invasion of his nation finally ends.

Zelenskyy's comments in an interview aired late Thursday followed two days of discussions among allies in Brussels that focused on postwar security and reconstruction. They also came before planned three-way talks next week in Abu Dhabi between Ukraine, Russia and the United States, the first trilateral peace discussions since February.

While talks on the contours of peace continue, the grim reality of war remained front and center Friday in Ukraine, with more Russian drone attacks and a rising death toll from Moscow's guided bomb strike Monday on a former school operating as a humanitarian aid distribution center.

Russian overnight drone strikes caused extensive power outages in several regions, including the Kyiv area.

Two days of talks in Brussels discussed postwar reconstruction, funding for 2027 and security guarantees backed by the Ukrainian government’s Western allies. The meetings brought together officials from the U.S., U.K., France, Germany and the European Union, along with representatives from the World Bank and the U.S. investment group BlackRock, Ukrainian lead negotiator Rustem Umerov wrote in an online post.

“We separately discussed the threats from Russia to Ukraine and all of Europe, as well as joint steps to counter them,” Umerov wrote.

In his television interview, Zelenskyy said he wanted to see tangible results.

“What matters is that it’s clear on paper,” Zelenskyy said in an interview with Ukraine’s private 1+1 television broadcast late Thursday. “The question isn’t dozens of points, but simply an understanding of the outcome: If Russia starts (attacking) again, what will happen? Who will do what, with what means, and when?”

Zelenskyy said it was important to maintain bipartisan support for Kyiv in the United States but acknowledged Democrats’ sweeping victories in this week’s midterm elections could have a positive effect on U.S. assistance, including the faster delivery of Patriot missile interceptors that Kyiv says are vital to fend off Russian airstrikes.

“I believe our chances of getting additional assistance from the United States may now grow,” he said.

President Donald Trump met Thursday with Moscow envoy Kirill Dmitriev but declined to give details of what they discussed.

“There’s going to be an agreement, it’s going to be a big agreement and it’s going to involve more than Ukraine,” Trump said, adding that it might include all of Europe.

Trump, who has long boasted he could quickly broker an end to Russia’s war in Ukraine, has lately blamed Zelenskyy for refusing to make concessions to end the conflict. Trump did not meet Thursday with visiting Ukrainian officials who also were on hand for a ceremony in Washington with first lady Melania Trump.

Trump's son-in-law and envoy Jared Kushner said in a social media message that the goal of the Brussels talks was to “develop practical arrangements that address the security concerns of all sides, reduce the risk of future conflict and create a more stable and predictable security environment.”

The European Union played down expectations for an agreement anytime soon.

“We look forward to seeing it materialize, but there’s a lot of work that needs to go into it,” European Commission spokesperson Paula Pinho said. The commission hosted the first day of talks Wednesday at its Brussels headquarters.

“Above all, there needs to be a willingness on the side of the one who first started the war, the one who aggressed,” she told reporters, in a reference to Russia. “There’s a very long way to go there because we haven’t seen much movement on that side.”

Pinho welcomed the resumption of talks and what appeared to be “full engagement” on all sides.

The Kremlin on Friday did not comment on Trump’s remarks about a possible deal.

“There are no details,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. Peskov said Russia had received no ideas from Europe on security guarantees, but added that any discussion of security between Russia and Ukraine would at some point be “impossible” without Europe’s involvement.

The Kremlin spokesman accused the European side of “persistent indecisiveness and a lack of readiness,” adding that European leaders “haven’t even managed to decide who is authorized to speak on their behalf.”

The death toll from a Russian bomb attack this week on a shelter and a former school now being used as an aid distribution center rose to 53 after more bodies were recovered from the rubble, Mykhailo Semikin, acting head of the region’s military administration, said in an online post.

Ten powerful guided bombs destroyed the facility at Komyshuvakha, a village in southeast Ukraine. Several dozen people are still believed to be missing after what was one of the deadliest attacks in the region in nearly five years of fighting.

Russian strikes on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure caused extensive power outages in seven regions of the country overnight and Friday morning, the Energy Ministry said.

The Kyiv region was hardest hit, with damage forcing continued grid restrictions and crews working on day and night shifts to restore power.

Zelenskyy said the electricity outages and resulting water cuts were worst in the Kyiv area, where “the challenges are very serious” for the capital’s residents and industry.

Ukraine’s air force said Russia launched 227 attack drones, including 86 jet-powered ones, with strikes reported at 14 locations and falling debris at eight more. Overall, Ukraine’s air defenses shot down or suppressed 196 Russian drones overnight into Friday.

Russia’s Ministry of Defense said Friday that it shot down 142 Ukrainian drones overnight.

Associated Press writers Mike Corder in The Hague, Netherlands; Elise Morton in London; Lorne Cook in Brussels and Farnoush Amiri in New York contributed.

In this photo provided by Ukraine's 65th Mechanized Brigade press service, rescuers search for victims on the site of an underground school which was ruined in a Russian aerial guided bomb strikes, killing at least 43 in Komyshuvakha, Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine, Thursday, Nov. 5, 2026. (Andriy Andriyenko/Ukraine's 65th Mechanized Brigade via AP)

Davyd Arakhamia, lawmaker with President Zelenskyy's Servant of the People's party, second left, and Russian Presidential Envoy Kirill Dmitriev, right, hold letters written by first lady Melania Trump to their respective presidents during a meeting with the first lady and Russian and Ukrainian representatives in the Grand Foyer of the White House, Thursday, Nov. 5, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy attends the second and final day of the 30th Ibero-American Summit of Heads of State and Government in Madrid, Spain, Thursday, Nov. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

In this photo provided by Ukraine's 65th Mechanized Brigade press service, an Orthodox Christian monastery is damaged following Russian aerial guided bomb strikes that killed at least 43 in Komyshuvakha, Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine, Thursday, Nov. 5, 2026. (Andriy Andriyenko/Ukraine's 65th Mechanized Brigade via AP)

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Malaysia's attorney general on Friday temporarily blocked the transfer of former Prime Minister Najib Razak from prison to house arrest to serve the remainder of his graft sentence at home, saying more legal clarification was needed.

The last-minute intervention came after local media reported that Najib had left the prison, after his political party paid a 50 million ringgit ($12.3 million) fine required under the terms of a royal pardon allowing house arrest.

The attorney general's office said in a statement that Najib would remain in prison until the legal matters were resolved.

Najib has been imprisoned since August 2022, when Malaysia’s top court upheld his conviction in his first graft trial linked to the multibillion-dollar looting of state investment fund 1MDB. Malaysia’s king in September granted Najib clemency, allowing him to serve the rest of his sentence under house arrest once he pays the court-imposed fine.

The house arrest applies only to his reduced six-year sentence in the first trial. It doesn’t cover a separate 15-year prison sentence imposed in December 2025 for corruption and money laundering in a second major trial tied to the 1MDB scandal. He's appealing that sentence.

The attorney general's office cited legal ambiguities in the house arrest order and raised concerns over how it could affect Najib's consecutive 15-year prison sentence. It said the delay was not to meant to contest the royal pardon allowing house arrest but to ensure it was implemented accurately and in line with the law.

Local media reported that Najib was returned to prison later Friday, after undergoing medical checks.

Police were earlier stationed at Najib's house in Kuala Lumpur and the road leading to it was blocked. Najib's lawyers could not be immediately reached for comment.

Asyraf Wajid Dusuki, secretary-general of the United Malays National Organization, said in a statement that the party had collected sufficient funds through its donation drive for Najib. He said the party had completed payment of the fine at the High Court earlier Friday.

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim earlier said that he disagreed with UMNO’s decision to settle Najib's fine because it risked sending the wrong message about large-scale corruption offenses. But he acknowledged it was the party's right.

“That should not give the public the impression that acts of corruption involving billions of ringgit can simply be overlooked," he was quoted as saying by the national news agency Bernama.

Najib set up the 1MDB development fund shortly after he took office in 2009. Investigators say at least $4.5 billion was stolen from the fund and laundered by Najib’s associates through layers of bank accounts in the U.S. and other countries. The funds were allegedly used to finance Hollywood films and extravagant purchases that included hotels, a luxury yacht, art and jewelry.

He was originally sentenced to 12 years in prison and fined 210 million ringgit ($51.5 million) in 2020 for abuse of power, criminal breach of trust and money laundering involving 42 million ringgit ($10.3 million) channeled into his bank accounts from SRC International, a former unit of 1MDB.

In January 2024, the Pardons Board halved his sentence to six years and reduced his fine to 50 million ringgit.

King Sultan Ibrahim Iskandar subsequently granted Najib a conditional pardon, paving the way for house arrest until Aug. 23, 2028, provided he paid the fine. If Najib fails to win appeal in the second case, he could face a further 15 years in prison after the current sentence ends.

Public outrage over the 1MDB scandal led to the historic 2018 election defeat of the ruling coalition, which had governed Malaysia since independence from Britain in 1957. Despite his conviction, Najib still wields influence in his party, UNMO, which is now part of a new government that took power in 2022.

Police guard a road leading to the residence of Malaysia’s former Prime Minister Najib Razak where he is expected to serve his remaining prison time in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Friday, Nov 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)