Talks between Ukrainian and US officials on proposals to resolve the war in Ukraine ended after more than five hours on Sunday and are expected to resume on Monday, an adviser to the Ukrainian president said in a statement.
“They lasted more than five hours and ended for today with an agreement to resume tomorrow morning,” said councilor Dmytro Litvin. Litvin said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky would comment on the talks on Monday, once they are complete. According to Litvin, officials are reviewing draft documents.
Negotiations between the Ukrainian and US delegations began on Sunday. According to Welt, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz walked out of the talks after meeting the two delegations, while Chancellor’s Assistant Ginder Sotter continued to act as facilitator.
Many media outlets report that the discussions are focused on Donbass and security guarantees, although specific details remain unclear.
The three strands of the discussions
The United States, Ukraine and Europe have been hammering out a US peace plan that was initially seen as favoring Russia for nearly a month.
Recent reports indicate that the parties are discussing three key initiatives: a framework agreement, security guarantees and a document laying the foundations for post-war reconstruction.
According to WSJ sources, the White House aims to secure a peace deal for Ukraine by the end of the year.
Pistorius’ peak
Defense Minister Boris Pistorius however described the composition of the current talks with Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner as “not ideal”, but as a “good sign”.
“It is certainly far from ideal for such negotiations. But as they say, you can only dance with the people on the dance floor,” Mr Pistorius told ARD and hailed the arrival of the US delegation in Berlin as a “good sign”.
But he expressed reservations about whether Russian President Vladimir Putin would accept peace proposals rather than continue the war: “We’ve seen this before. So it wouldn’t surprise me if it ended up that way. I hope for a different result,” he added.
Tomorrow Chancellor Merz and President Zelensky will participate in the German-Ukrainian Economic Forum in Berlin, while the French and British leaders and EU and NATO officials are expected to arrive later.
