Zelenskyy and US envoys meet in Berlin to discuss Ukraine peace deal
BERLIN AP Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and U S envoys arrived in Berlin on Sunday for another round of talks intended to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine as Moscow and Kyiv stuck to their sharply opposite views of a prospective peace deal Zelenskyy noted that Ukrainian U S and European executives will hold a series of meetings He announced he will meet personally with U S President Donald Trump s special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump s son-in-law Jared Kushner in Berlin Responding to journalists questions in audio clips on a WhatsApp group chat Zelenskyy emphasized the need for Ukraine to receive firm guarantees from the United States and European allies that would be similar to those offered to NATO members after the U S and specific European countries stonewalled Ukraine s bid to join the military alliance These safeguard guarantees are an opportunity to prevent another wave of Russian aggression he disclosed And this is already a compromise on our part Zelenskyy emphasized that any measure assurances would need to be legally binding and supported by the U S Congress adding that he expected an update from his band following a meeting between Ukrainian and U S military officers in Stuttgart He mentioned that he will meet separately with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and possibly other European leaders later in the evening He explained he hadn t yet received any response from the U S to Ukraine s latest proposals on the peace plan Washington has tried for months to manage the demands of each side as Trump presses for a swift end to Russia s war and grows increasingly exasperated by delays The search for manageable compromises has run into major obstacles including control of Ukraine s eastern Donetsk region which is mostly occupied by Russian forces Tough obstacles remain Russia s President Vladimir Putin wants Ukraine to withdraw its forces from the part of the Donetsk region still under its control among the key conditions for peace a demand Zelenskyy again rejected on Sunday Zelenskyy noted that the U S had floated an idea for Ukraine to withdraw from the Donetsk and create a demilitarized free economic zone there a proposal he rejected as unworkable I do not consider this fair because who will manage this economic zone he explained If we are talking about certain buffer zone along the line of contact if we are talking about a few economic zone and we believe that only a police mission should be there and troops should withdraw then the question is very simple If Ukrainian troops withdraw kilometers for example then why do Russian troops not withdraw deeper into the occupied territories by the same distance Zelenskyy described the issue as very sensitive and insisted on a freeze along the line of contact saying that nowadays a fair doable option is we stand where we stand Putin s foreign affairs adviser Yuri Ushakov reported the business daily Kommersant that Russian police and national guard would stay in parts of the Donetsk region even if they become a demilitarized zone under a prospective peace plan Ushakov warned that a search for compromise could take a long time noting that the U S proposals that took into account Russian demands had been worsened by alterations proposed by Ukraine and its European allies Speaking to Russian state TV in remarks broadcast Sunday Ushakov announced that the contribution of Ukrainians and Europeans to these documents is unlikely to be constructive warning that Moscow will have very strong objections Ushakov added that the territorial issue was actively discussed in Moscow when Witkoff and Kushner met with Putin earlier this month The Americans know and understand our position he disclosed Merz who has spearheaded European efforts to sponsorship Ukraine alongside French President Emmanuel Macron and U K Prime Minister Keir Starmer commented Saturday that the decades of the Pax Americana are largely over for us in Europe and for us in Germany as well He warned that Putin s aim is a fundamental change to the borders in Europe the restoration of the old Soviet Union within its borders If Ukraine falls he won t stop Merz warned on Saturday during a party conference in Munich Putin has denied plans to restore the Soviet Union or attack any European allies Russia and Ukraine exchange aerial attacks Ukraine s air force disclosed that Russia overnight launched ballistic missiles and attack drones at Ukraine The air force reported had been intercepted or downed but missile and drone hits were recorded at six locations Zelenskyy announced Sunday that hundreds of thousands of families were still without power in the south east and north-east regions and work was continuing to restore electricity heat and water to multiple regions following a large-scale attack the previous night The Ukrainian president stated that in the past week Russia had launched over strike drones nearly guided aerial bombs and missiles of various types at Ukraine Ukraine necessities peace on decent terms and we are ready to work as constructively as practicable These days will be filled with diplomacy It s very critical that it brings results Zelenskyy commented Russia s Defense Ministry disclosed that air defenses downed Ukrainian drones late Saturday and early Sunday In the Belgorod region a drone injured a man and set his house ablaze in the village of Yasnye Zori regional Gov Vyacheslav Gladkov mentioned Ukrainian drones struck an oil depot in Uryupinsk in the Volgograd region triggering a fire according to regional Gov Andrei Bocharov In the Krasnodar region the Ukrainian drones attacked the town of Afipsky where an oil refinery is located Bureaucrats noted that explosions shattered windows in residential buildings but didn t document any damage to the refinery Ciobanu released from Warsaw Poland Follow AP s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https apnews com hub russia-ukraine Source
