Peace plan: Zelensky negotiated with US delegation in Berlin

Before his departure from Kiev, Zelenskiy had announced that Ukraine had accepted an agreement rejected by Russia and the USA NATO membership could do without if his country received comprehensive security guarantees against another Russian attack in return. Last week he also spoke out about the elections in his country called for by US President Donald Trump, but called for security guarantees from the US. He also accepted the current line of contact between the Russian and Ukrainian armies as the starting point for a ceasefire.

Chancellor Merz invited the Europeans to Berlin on Monday. There, representatives of several European states as well as the leaders of the EU and NATO want to demonstrate that they continue to stand by Ukraine, which was invaded by Russia. On Thursday, the EU summit is expected to decide that 210 billion euros in frozen Russian state assets should be used to finance Ukraine. According to information from government circles, this is not an expropriation.

Merz and other EU heads of state and government had repeatedly warned the US government that it should not agree to a dictated peace with Russia over the heads of the Ukrainians and Europeans. There is a suspicion that US President Trump wants a quick ceasefire – if necessary at the expense of Ukraine. At the beginning of December, Russian President Vladimir Putin received Witkoff and Kushner.

At his meeting in Berlin with Witkoff, Zelenskiy primarily wanted to discuss his latest proposals for President Trump’s peace plan. According to Ukrainian media, Zelenskiy answered questions from journalists that he had not yet received any US reaction to his latest proposed changes. Zelenskiy had previously stated that he saw Ukraine in a strong negotiating position.

Zelensky: Plan must be fair and effective

A peace plan will not be something that pleases everyone, said Zelenskiy. There are compromise proposals. “The most important thing is that the plan is as fair as possible, especially for Ukraine. The most important thing is that it is effective,” he said. Because not everyone supports Ukraine’s membership in NATO, there is a compromise proposal for security guarantees for the country against new Russian attacks. He didn’t give any details.

The American four-star general Alexus Grynkewich also came to Berlin. According to his spokesman, the commander in chief of NATO forces in Europe traveled as a senior US military representative to give military advice to US negotiators – as part of President Trump’s peace efforts.

Kremlin views Berlin meeting negatively

Russia is looking at the negotiations with suspicion. The contributions of the Europeans and Ukraine to US President Trump’s peace plan would “hardly be constructive,” as Kremlin chief Putin’s foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov told Russian state television before the talks began in Berlin.

“Therein lies the problem,” Ushakov said. At the same time, he praised the fact that the US side understood the Russian position. Ushakov made it clear that, above all, Russia would not back down from its territorial demands for a peaceful solution to the conflict. Moscow is demanding that Kiev also withdraw its troops from those areas in the contested industrial region of Donbass that Russia has not yet been able to conquer and that continue to be controlled by Ukraine.

Kremlin: Americans understand Russian position

Russia rejects changes to the points on territorial issues, Ushakov said. “The question of the territories as a whole was actively discussed in Moscow. The Americans not only know our position, but also understand it,” said Ushakov, who spoke to Witkoff and Putin, among others, for about five hours about Trump’s peace plan.

At Trump’s instigation, the US government presented a peace plan in November, which has since been negotiated in various rounds. Trump calls on Ukraine to agree to a peace agreement. He sees the country, which is dependent on Western support, at a military disadvantage compared to the aggressor Russia.

Russia is not yet aware of what is in the plan after the consultations between the Ukrainians and Europeans, said Ushakov. “It’s unlikely to be anything good,” he said. His now published statements were already recorded on Friday.