Zelensky US delegation talks in Berlin
Berlin (dpa) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met a US delegation at the Chancellery in Berlin on Sunday for talks on a ceasefire in Ukraine.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz gave a brief welcome to the attendees but did not remain in the room for the discussions, government sources told dpa.
Merz’s foreign and security policy adviser, Günter Sautter, acted as a moderator.
Merz met the US delegation, led by special envoy Steve Witkoff and US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, at the Chancellery on Sunday afternoon.
Zelensky arrived shortly afterwards, receiving a warm welcome from Merz, who greeted him with an embrace.
Discussions on Sunday were expected to be held behind closed doors between the US delegation, Ukrainian officials and representatives of the major European powers.
It is not yet publicly known what concrete proposals are currently on the table.
Speaking to Ukrainian journalists, Zelensky said he had not received reaction from the United States on his latest proposals for changes to Trump’s peace plan.
He acknowledged that a peace plan would not please all sides, but insisted that Ukraine was in a strong negotiating position.
Zelensky US delegation talks in Berlin
He referred to security guarantees for Ukraine, given that not all sides supported Ukraine’s membership of NATO.
Also arriving in Berlin was US General Alexus Grynkewich, NATO’s top general in Europe.
Witkoff met Russian President Vladimir Putin at the beginning of the month. During the meeting, Putin suggested readiness for further talks but stressed that Russia had the strategic initiative and would pursue its war aims by force in the absence of an agreement.
Ukraine has been warding off a full-scale Russian invasion since February 2022.
Kremlin takes a negative view of Berlin meeting
Meanwhile, speaking to Russian state television, Yuri Ushakov, Putin’s foreign policy aide, said Russia expected little good to come out of the Berlin talks.
Contributions from Ukraine and European powers to Trump’s peace plan “will scarcely be constructive,” Ushakov said in remarks recorded on Friday but broadcast on Sunday.
“Therein lies the problem,” he said, while highlighting Russian confidence that the US side comprehends the Russian position.
Ushakov made clear that Russia would not retract its territorial demands, including that Kiev withdraw fully from those parts of the two eastern provinces of Donetsk and Luhansk that Russian forces have not yet occupied.
“The issue of the territories was actively discussed as a whole in Moscow,” Ushakov said in reference to the five-hour talks in the Russian capital between Witkoff and Putin at the beginning of the month. “The Americans not only know our position, but also comprehend it,” he said.
Moscow remained unaware of what the Ukrainians and their European allies were planning, Ushakov said, adding: “It will scarcely be anything good.”
He insisted that Zelensky’s dreams of NATO membership for Ukraine and retaking the Crimean Peninsula annexed by Russia in 2014 had no chance of realization.
Diplomatic flurry in Berlin
Former defence minister Rustem Umerov and Chief of the General Staff Andrii Hnatov were among the Ukrainian delegation. It was expected that the adviser talks in Berlin on Sunday could last until late in the evening.
Zelensky’s primary aim during talks with the US representatives is to discuss his latest proposals on Trump’s peace plan.
Trump issued a 28-point peace plan in late November that unsettled Kiev and its allies because it echoed many of the Kremlin’s positions.
Zelensky has since floated a 20-point counter-proposal, but huge obstacles remain, from his refusal to surrender territory to his insistence on firm US security guarantees if a deal is struck.
Further talks expected in Berlin on Monday
Berlin will remain the stage for negotiations on Monday. It was unclear, however, whether, and in what format, adviser-level talks between US and Ukrainian representatives would continue.
Merz and Zelensky plan to attend a German-Ukrainian economic forum on Monday afternoon.
Later in the evening, Merz and Zelensky plan to consult with other top Western politicians, including French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, as well as EU and NATO leaders.
©2025 dpa GmbH. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Notes from APS Radio News
In related news, Russia’s parliament, State Duma, declared Germany’s Deutsche Welle an “undesirable” organization.
