Ukraine, US and Europe talks on peace plan wrap up with no breakthrough on territory

Talks being held in Berlin on Monday on a potential peace deal between delegations from Ukraine, the US and Europe have come to an end with no breakthrough being made on the contentious issue of Kyiv ceding some of its territory to Russia, The Guardian has reported.

The US is still pushing Moscow’s demand that Ukraine give up those parts of its two eastern Luhansk and Donetsk regions which the Russians have not been able to gain by military means since February 2022, an unnamed official close to the talks told AFP.

US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff had reported that “a lot of progress” had been made during the first round of talks on Sunday.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz hosted the talks between the Ukrainian delegation, which was led by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, and the American delegation, which was led by US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, and US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, to discuss the ongoing peace efforts with European partners.

“The meeting in Berlin between … delegations from the United States and Ukraine lasted over five hours. Representatives held in-depth discussions regarding the 20-point plan for peace, economic agendas, and more,” Witkoff wrote on X after the first day’s talks wound up.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who prior to the talks announced his willingness to drop Kyiv’s demand for NATO membership in exchange for firmer security guarantees from the US and Europe, made no comment following the end of the talks on Sunday, but one of his advisers, Dmytro Lytvyn, indicated that he would make a statement once the Monday meeting had wrapped up.