Image: keystone
December 14, 2025, 5:19 p.mDecember 14, 2025, 5:19 p.m
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj has arrived in Berlin to discuss a ceasefire in Russia’s war against his country. According to a dpa reporter, he was warmly greeted by Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) upon his arrival at the Chancellery. A US delegation had previously arrived there with US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner. Moscow has a negative view of the deliberations in Berlin.
The US delegation, which also includes special envoy Steve Witkoff, initially held talks in a Berlin hotel that morning. According to dpa reporters, the Ukrainians in uniform and civilian clothes who arrived in Berlin in the morning and were greeted at the Chancellery by Günter Sautter, Merz’s foreign and security policy advisor, included former Defense Minister Rustem Umjerow and Chief of General Staff Andrij Hnatov.
Umjerow drove with Sautter to the hotel where the US delegation had previously stayed. The ex-minister is Zelensky’s chief negotiator and secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine.
Special units guard the Chancellery during the meeting in Berlin.Image: keystone
Discussions initially at consultant level
It was planned that the talks held between representatives of the USA and Ukraine about an end to the Russian war of aggression would initially be continued with European participation at advisory level – behind closed doors. It is not yet publicly known which specific proposals are currently on the table. In particular, representatives of the secret services and the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces took part in the discussions on the issue of security guarantees, Zelensky said. He also did not rule out the failure of talks to end the war in his country. In this case, another approach would have to be sought, he said.
At his meeting in Berlin with Witkoff, Zelenskyj primarily wants to discuss his latest proposals for President Donald Trump’s peace plan. According to Ukrainian media, Zelensky answered questions from journalists that he had not yet received any US reaction to his latest proposed changes. Zelensky had previously stated that he saw Ukraine in a strong negotiating position.
Zelensky: “Plan must be fair and effective”
A peace plan will not be something that pleases everyone, said Zelensky. There are compromise proposals. “The most important thing is that the plan is as fair as possible, especially for Ukraine. The most important thing is that it is effective,” he said. Because not everyone supports Ukraine’s membership in NATO, there is a compromise proposal for security guarantees for the country against new Russian attacks. He didn’t give any details.
The American four-star general Alexus Grynkewich also came to Berlin. According to his spokesman, the commander in chief of NATO forces in Europe traveled as a senior US military representative to give US negotiators military advice – as part of President Trump’s peace efforts.
Alexus Grynkewich at a press conference in September.Image: keystone
At the beginning of December, Witkoff met with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Putin then remained willing to negotiate, but emphasized that Russia had the strategic initiative on the battlefield – and could use military force to achieve its war goals if a diplomatic agreement failed.
Kremlin views Berlin meeting negatively
Russia is looking at the negotiations with suspicion. The contributions of the Europeans and Ukraine to US President Donald Trump’s peace plan would “hardly be constructive,” as Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin’s foreign policy advisor Yuri Ushakov told Russian state television before the talks began in Berlin.
Yuri Ushakov (left) with Russian President Vladimir Putin.Image: www.imago-images.de
“Therein lies the problem,” said Ushakov. At the same time, he praised the fact that the US side understood the Russian position. Ushakov made it clear that, above all, Russia would not back down from its territorial demands for a peaceful solution to the conflict. Moscow is demanding that Kiev also withdraw its troops from those areas in the contested industrial region of Donbass that Russia has not yet been able to conquer and that continue to be controlled by Ukraine.
Kremlin: Americans understand Russian position
Russia rejects changes to the points on territorial issues, Ushakov said. «The question of the territories as a whole was actively discussed in Moscow. “The Americans not only know our position, they also understand it,” said Ushakov, who spoke to Witkoff and Putin, among others, for about five hours about Trump’s peace plan.
At the instigation of President Donald Trump, the US government presented a peace plan in November, which has since been negotiated in various rounds. Trump calls on Ukraine to agree to a peace agreement. He sees the country, which is dependent on Western support, at a military disadvantage compared to the aggressor Russia.
Russia is not yet aware of what is in the plan after the consultations between the Ukrainians and Europeans, said Ushakov. “It’s unlikely to be anything good,” he said. His now published statements were already recorded on Friday.
Further discussions on Monday in Berlin
Merz, along with French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, called Trump on Wednesday about the situation in Ukraine. From the phone call with Trump, he “got the firm impression that he is ready to go down this path with us because he knows that the Europeans also have to be heard here with their own interests,” said Merz on Thursday.
Chancellor Friedrich Merz waited for the delegations to arrive. Image: keystone
Berlin will also remain a negotiating stage on Monday. Merz and Zelenskyj want to discuss this evening with other top Western politicians, including Macron and Starmer, as well as leaders of the EU and NATO. (sda/dpa/hde)