Slovak and Moldovan leaders will hold talks Friday with Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko on a spiraling energy crisis that is hampering gas supplies across central Europe, the presidency said.
Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski will also take part but wider plans by Kiev to hold a summit of European leaders including Polish President Lech Kaczynski and Lithuanian President Valdas Adamkus fell through.
"The meeting on questions of energy security will begin on Friday at noon (1000 GMT)" with Slovak President Ivan Gasparovic and Moldovan Prime Minister Zinaida Greceanii in attendance, the Ukrainian presidency said Friday.
The Polish presidency said Kaczynski would be represented at the meeting by aide Michal Kaminski.
A spokeswoman for Adamkus, Rita Grumadaite, said he also wouldn't attend.
A spokeswoman for Yushchenko told AFP late Thursday that he was expecting "five counterparts from eastern Europe" to attend a summit in Kiev.
Russia cut off supplies to Ukraine's domestic market on New Year's Day in a payment dispute and then halted deliveries to Europe via Ukraine on Jan. 7. Russia said it had to cut European supplies because Kiev was stealing the gas, but Ukraine denies the charge and accuses Russia of provoking the crisis.
Gas-fired central heating has been reduced or cut off for millions of Europeans in the crisis, schools have been shut down and factories closed as a huge swathe of central Europe and the Balkans struggles to cope.
The European Union depends on Russian gas via Ukraine for a fifth of its total supplies.