US says ‘progress’ in Ukraine ceasefire talks

Negotiations between Ukraine and the United States aimed at reaching a peace agreement with Russia continued for a second day in Berlin.

Zelensky and his chief negotiator Rustem Umerov met with U.S. envoy Steve Witkopf and Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner for five hours on Sunday, along with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.

“A lot of progress has been made,” a U.S. press release said. The team resumed talks on Monday morning.

Before the meeting, Volodymyr Zelensky said he would give up his ambition to join NATO in exchange for security guarantees.

Recognizing that “some partners in the United States and Europe” do not support Ukraine joining NATO, Zelensky said he was seeking strong security guarantees modeled on NATO’s Article 5 mutual protection clause.

“This has been our compromise,” he said on Sunday.

Vitkov has traveled to Moscow several times for talks with Vladimir Putin, but Sunday’s meeting at the Chancellery in Berlin was the first time he had met Zelensky. Gen. Alexus Grinkovich, NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Europe, also attended the talks.

Several European leaders, as well as European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, are expected to hold further talks with Ukrainian and U.S. delegations on Monday evening.

At the heart of the discussions in Berlin was Ukraine’s 20-point peace plan proposal to the United States last week to counter the original U.S. plan, which was seen as heavily tilted toward Russia.

Details have not yet been revealed, but Zelensky said last week that the points should be considered a “basis” for the development of provisions for Ukraine’s reconstruction and security.

For Russia, Kyiv’s membership of NATO is a red line, and Moscow has repeatedly demanded that any ambitions for Ukraine to join NATO be permanently put on hold. “This issue is one of the cornerstones and requires dedicated discussion,” the Kremlin said on Monday.

The United States has also repeatedly stated that it does not want Ukraine to join NATO. But Kyiv fears that a peace deal without airtight security guarantees will not prevent Russia from launching another attack.

Before the talks began, Zelensky also talked about the thorny sovereignty issue in the eastern Donbas region, which Russia mainly occupies and hopes Kiev will hand over in its entirety.

Ukraine’s president has said that while he is willing to freeze the conflict on the current frontline, he is not prepared to withdraw his troops from the parts of Donbas they still control – unless Russian forces do the same in areas they control.

Zelensky said that in order to achieve a fair arrangement, Russia must retreat the same distance. He added that the matter was “extremely sensitive and intense”.

Any proposals finalized by the Ukrainian, U.S. and European sides must still be submitted to Moscow — although Zelensky said the U.S. delegation “arguably represents the Russian perspective because they convey Russian signals, demands, steps and signs of preparation or lack thereof.”

The Kremlin said it wanted the United States to provide us with “concepts” for discussion on Monday.

The Berlin talks come at a critical time for Ukraine, which is going through its fourth winter of war due to ongoing blackouts caused by Russian attacks on its energy facilities. More than a million homes in Ukraine were without power over the weekend due to a series of strikes.

Later this week, EU countries will agree on a Plans to transfer Russian frozen assets worth €90bn (£78.6bn) Held at a Belgium-based financial institution to support the Ukrainian economy.

European Union governments agreed on Friday to freeze Russian assets indefinitely, but there was no consensus on whether they could be shipped to Ukraine. Belgium has resisted the legally controversial proposal and in recent days other countries, including Italy, have said “alternatives” should be put forward.

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Callas admitted discussions were “increasingly difficult”.

“But we are doing the work and we still have a few days,” she added.