December 20, 2025, 07:05December 20, 2025, 07:05
Negotiations on a peace solution in Ukraine after almost four years of Russian aggression are entering the next round. After the talks between leading European states, the USA and Ukraine in Berlin last Sunday and Monday, the American negotiators now want to feedback the results with Russian representatives in Miami in the US state of Florida.
Days ago, a high-ranking US official announced that they would meet in working groups. Military representatives should also be there. The USA sees itself as a mediator in the conflict.
Ukrainian and European government representatives are also expected in Florida, including Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s foreign policy advisor Günter Sautter. He set off on Friday to hold “informal discussions with the US government,” as the German Press Agency learned from government circles.
According to media reports, a meeting is planned with US President Donald Trump’s special envoy to Ukraine, Steve Witkoff, which will also be attended by representatives of Great Britain and France. There are no plans for talks between the German and Russian sides.
The Russian delegation will reportedly be led by President Vladimir Putin’s adviser Kirill Dmitriev. He is supposed to talk to Witkoff about the results of the two-day talks in Berlin. This has not been reported in detail yet. But it was about two central points: security guarantees and territorial issues.
There is movement when it comes to security guarantees
According to information from all sides, there was progress on the planned security guarantees in the event of a ceasefire. “What the USA has put on the table here in Berlin in terms of legal and material guarantees is really remarkable,” said Chancellor Merz. According to him, what is meant above all is the willingness of the USA to give Ukraine guarantees close to Article 5 of the NATO Treaty. Thereafter, an attack on one state is treated as an attack on all.
What this could mean for Ukraine in detail is still unclear. However, Merz said a sentence on ZDF that made people sit up and take notice: “We would also respond to corresponding Russian attacks and attacks.” The Europeans made an offer, with the support of the USA, to set up a “multinational force” that would ensure security on land, at sea and also on the ground in Ukraine.
For his part, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky seems to have come to terms with the fact that joining NATO is currently unrealistic. The USA is consistent in this, he says. However, he does not want to give up the goal of joining NATO as set out in the Ukrainian constitution. He made this clear on Thursday during his visit to Brussels. Zelensky also brought up rapid EU accession as a temporary alternative. EU membership is also part of the security guarantees for Ukraine, both from an economic and geopolitical perspective.
There is no movement on the territorial issue
The most difficult question until the very end will probably remain the question of territory. One of Russia’s core demands for a ceasefire is that Ukraine also give up those cities in the eastern Donetsk region that are strategically important for the country’s defense and that Russia has not yet been able to conquer. Zelensky rejects such gifts to the “aggressor state” and points to the country’s constitution, which fundamentally does not allow the cession of territory.
However, Merz said that Zelensky was ready to recognize the area beyond the existing front line in Ukraine as “Russian-occupied territory”. He also spoke of a “demilitarized zone” between the two warring parties, a kind of buffer zone.
How Russia has reacted so far
Russia has not officially responded to the suggestions circulating in the media. Moscow is waiting to be informed by Washington and will not engage in megaphone diplomacy in advance, said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
However, the general dissatisfaction with support for Ukraine, especially from the EU, cannot be ignored in the Russian comments. After the renegotiations in Berlin, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accused the Europeans of playing a destructive role in the peace talks. Kremlin chief Putin even complained about “European piglets” at a meeting with high-ranking military officials. At the same event, he threatened to take back Russia’s “historic territories” militarily if Ukraine did not give in to the territorial dispute.
Putin repeats old demands and boasts about successes at the front
Putin also showed toughness at his big annual press conference on Friday. Russia is ready for peace – on its terms, he announced, boasting of further military successes in the nationally televised event. Moscow’s long-known demands include Ukraine’s refusal to join NATO and the cession of further territories to Russia.
Behind the formulation repeatedly used in Moscow that “the causes of the conflict in Kiev” must be eliminated also lies the claim to be able to help shape the political landscape in the neighboring country. Putin also made this clear at the annual press conference when he called for the inclusion of Ukrainians who had fled to Russia – reportedly five to ten million people – in a possible presidential election in the neighboring country. His returning officer, Ella Pamfilova, then offered to organize and count the vote in Russia – a condition that was unacceptable to Kiev from the start. (sda/dpa)
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