Ukraine updates: Kyiv seeks US security pledges

Kyiv and Washington are due to start consultations on providing security guarantees for Ukraine while the country waits to join NATO.

Ukraine is seeking the "concrete, long-term" provisions that it says will help protect against Russian aggression.

The G7 group of seven leading industrial nations promised Ukraine long-term protection at the NATO summit in Lithuania in early July but there was no timeline for joining the alliance itself.

Twin Russian missile strikes on the Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih have reportedly killed at least one person, with other residents possibly missing beneath the rubble.

Here's an overview of some of the main stories concerning Russia's war in Ukraine on Monday, July 31:

Saudi Arabia to host Ukraine-backed peace summit

Saudi Arabia is preparing ahead of a Ukraine-organized peace summit in early August in the Red Sea port of Jeddah.

The summit would seek to find a way to start negotiations about ending the war started by Russia, although no Moscow representative has been invited.

Ukraine says the peace plan could also provide a framework for preventing new conflicts elsewhere.

"The Ukrainian Peace Formula contains 10 fundamental points, the implementation of which will not only ensure peace for Ukraine but also create mechanisms to counter future conflicts in the world," Ukraine presidential office head Andriy Yermak said in a statement.

"We are deeply convinced that the Ukrainian peace plan should be taken as a basis, because the war is taking place on our land."

The formula stipulates the restoration of Ukraine's territorial integrity, the withdrawal of Russian troops, the release of all prisoners, a tribunal for those deemed responsible for the aggression, and security provisions for Ukraine.

Yermak said the points had been "discussed individually and in groups with representatives of more than 50 countries on an almost weekly basis."

Russia to keep up talks with China, Brazil and African nations

Russia's Foreign Ministry has said dialogue on prospects for a peaceful resolution of the Ukraine war will continue with China, Brazil and its African partners.

The statement came after last week's Russia-African summit in Saint Petersburg, at which some African leaders urged Russian President Vladimir Putin to end the war.

The leaders also urged Putin to resume a deal that kept grain flowing from Ukraine but emerged with little to show.

Ukraine to start security pledge talks with US

Ukraine begins talks with the United States this week on security guarantees ahead of its eventual accession to NATO.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's office that talks with the US would revolve around obtaining bilateral security commitments.

"Security guarantees for Ukraine will be concrete, long-term obligations ensuring Ukraine's capacity to defeat and restrain Russian aggression in the future," said office head Andriy Yermak. "These will be clearly drafted formats and mechanisms of support."

The pledges should encompass defense support and financing as well as further sanctions against Russia, Yermak said. He added that Ukraine was also working on bilateral agreements with its other allies.

NATO's Vilnius summit in early July offered support to Ukraine in countering Russia's 17-month-old invasion, but no timeline for accession.

At the time, the lack of a chronological plan was described by Zelenskyy as "unprecedented and absurd."

However, G7 nations present in the Lithuanian capital agreed for each to negotiate agreements with Kyiv to provide guarantees for Ukraine to bolster its military.

Russian missile strikes hit Kryvyi Rih

Two Russian missile strikes have hit the southern Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih, the Ukrainian interior ministry said in a statement.

Footage from the city that was circulated on social networks showed a gaping hole in the side of a nine-story residential building and a fire inside.

It is believed that at least one person was killed, with more likely trapped under rubble.

"The enemy conducted a missile strike on Kryvyi Rih. All the necessary agencies are working at the scene now," the interior ministry said, urging people to stay in air raid shelters.

A four-story educational building was also hit.

The steel-producing city of Kryvyi Rih, in southern central Ukraine, is the hometown of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.