Muhammad Basheer HotoroSeveral men sit around a long oval table. On the left are Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukrainian negotiator Rustem Umerov and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and on the right are Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, US envoy Steve Witkoff and Nato Supreme Allied Commander Europe General Alexus Grynkewich Reuters
Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukrainian negotiator Rustem Umerov and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz met Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and US envoy Steve Witkoff in Berlin on Sunday
Talks between Ukraine and the US aimed at reaching a peace deal with Russia are continuing in Berlin for a second day.
Zelensky and his chief negotiator Rustem Umerov met US envoy Steve Witkoff and Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner for five hours on Sunday, joined by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
”A lot of progress was made,” a US readout said. The same team resumed talks on Monday morning.
Ahead of the start of the meeting, Volodymyr Zelensky signalled he would give up ambitions to join Nato in exchange for security guarantees.
Recognising that “some partners from the US and Europe” did not support Ukraine’s bid for Nato membership, Zelensky said he was instead seeking strong security guarantees modelled on Nato’s Article 5 clause of mutual protection.
”And this is already a compromise on our part,” he said on Sunday.
Witkoff has travelled to Moscow to hold talks with Vladimir Putin on several occasions, but Sunday’s meeting at the chancellery in Berlin was the first time he met Zelensky. Nato Supreme Allied Commander Europe General Alexus Grynkewich was also present at the talks.
Several European leaders as well as European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen are expected to join further talks with the Ukrainian and US delegations on Monday evening.
At the core of the discussions in Berlin is the 20-point peace plan proposal presented to the US by Ukraine last week to counter an initial American plan which was seen as heavily favouring Russia.
Details haven’t been shared, but last week Zelensky said the points should be seen as a “foundation” on which to build provisions for the reconstruction of Ukraine and security guarantees.
For Russia, Kyiv’s membership of Nato is a red line, and Moscow has repeatedly demanded that any ambitions for Ukraine to join the alliance are shelved forever. “This issue is one of the cornerstones and requires special discussion,” said the Kremlin on Monday.
The US too has repeatedly stated it does not want Ukraine to be part of Nato. But Kyiv fears that a peace deal without watertight security guarantees would fail to detract Russia from attacking again.
