- Ukraine plans to ask the United States to tighten sanctions against Russia.
- Ukraine emphasizes that Donbas will not be recognized as Russian territory.
- Kyiv supports the idea of a Christmas truce in Ukraine.
Ukraine will ask the United States to tighten sanctions against Russia and increase military aid, including supplies of long-range weapons, if Moscow rejects peace proposals. which are being negotiated by Kyiv, Washington and European leaders. This was stated by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy after talks in Berlin, Germany, on Tuesday night, TASR reports, according to a Reuters report.
He further confirmed that Kyiv supports the idea of a truce over the Christmas period, especially to stop strikes on energy infrastructure. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz called on Russian President Vladimir Putin for a Christmas truce in Ukraine on Monday.
However, according to a source familiar with the negotiations, the United States is pressuring Kiev to withdraw its troops from the eastern Donetsk region. Such a step would represent a significant concession and could provoke a strong negative reaction in Ukraine itself, writes Reuters. Zelenskyi, who earlier described the issue of territorial concessions as “painful”, emphasized again after the negotiations that Ukraine will not recognize Donbas as Russian territory either “de jure or de facto”. He emphasized that there will be no free economic zone under Russian control in Donbass.
The second round of negotiations took place in Berlin on Monday between the Ukrainian delegation led by President Zelensky and the American delegation led by the envoys of President Donald Trump, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. Several European leaders were also present. According to the Ukrainian leader, the talks “were not easy, but they were productive.”
Trump said Monday night that a deal to end the war in Ukraine is closer than ever. According to him, the United States is working with European partners on security guarantees for Kyiv, and Europe will play a “big” role in them.
