US and Ukraine try to break impasse over peace deal with Russia
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. President Trump’s top envoys launched two days of meetings with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and European leaders on Sunday as the administration stepped up pressure on Kyiv to put aside its resistance and agree to a peace deal with Russia by year-end. The talks between Ukraine and its Western partners have become a tug of war, even without Russia at the table.
Washington is pushing for quick decisions, while Zelensky and his European backers contend that significant differences remain that must be resolved. Among those points, Ukraine has balked at Washington’s call to withdraw its forces from a portion of the eastern Donbas region that Kyiv’s forces still hold. European and Ukrainian officials have pushed for clarity on what the U.S.
would do if Russia were to break a peace deal and attack Ukraine. Both issues will be at the heart of the talks in Berlin. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz proposed the meetings during a talk European leaders held with Trump on Wednesday, which both sides described as difficult.
Trump said he was invited to join the Berlin talks but publicly doubted the trip would be worthwhile. On Friday, Trump decided to send his special Russia envoy Steve Witkoff and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner. Witkoff, who has spearheaded talks with Ukraine and Russia on a U.S.
peace plan, is expected to meet with the Ukrainians on Sunday before sitting down with European leaders. Over the past few weeks, he has shuttled between meetings with the Kremlin in Moscow and separate discussions with Kyiv in the U.S. or Europe.
Russian officials have said the U.S. peace plan is a good basis for discussion but haven’t said whether they would accept it. Many European officials
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