By Friederike Heine
BERLIN, Dec 13 (Reuters) – Germany will host delegations from the United States and Ukraine over the weekend for talks on a ceasefire in Ukraine ahead of a summit with European leaders and President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Berlin on Monday, a German source said on Saturday.
A US source said overnight that President Donald Trump’s envoy, Steve Witkoff, and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, were traveling to Germany for talks involving Ukrainians and Europeans.
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The decision to send Witkoff, who led negotiations with Ukraine and Russia over a U.S. peace proposal, appeared to be a sign that Washington saw the possibility of progress. The White House had said on Thursday that Trump would send a representative to the talks only if he considered there was sufficient progress to be made.
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‘This weekend, negotiations are taking place in Berlin about a possible ceasefire in Ukraine between foreign policy advisors, among others, from the US and Ukraine,’ said a German government source when asked about the meetings.
On Monday, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz will host Zelenskiy and European leaders for a summit in Berlin, the latest in a series of public displays of support for the Ukrainian leader from allies across Europe, as Kiev faces pressure from Washington to adhere to a peace plan that initially backed Moscow’s key demands.
The United Kingdom, France and Germany have been working in recent weeks to improve the U.S. proposals, which, in a draft released last month, called for Kiev to cede more territory, abandon its ambition to join NATO and accept limits on its armed forces.
(Reporting by Friederike Heine, Steve Holland)
