U.S. and Ukrainian delegations are set to hold talks on a ceasefire in Ukraine, before a summit with European leaders and President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Berlin on Monday.
A U.S. official said President Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner were travelling to Germany for talks involving Ukrainians and Europeans.
The White House had said on Thursday Trump would send an official to talks only if he felt there was enough progress to be made.
On Monday, German Chancellor, Friedrich Merz, is hosting Zelenskiy and European leaders for a summit in Berlin, the latest in a series of public shows of support for the Ukrainian leader from allies across Europe as Kyiv faces pressure from Washington to sign up to a peace plan that initially backed Moscow’s main demands.
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Britain, France and Germany have been working in the last few weeks to refine the U.S. proposals, which, in a draft disclosed last month, called for Kyiv to cede more territory, abandon its ambition to join NATO and accept limits on its armed forces.
Merz said in a speech on Saturday that Europe had to brace for a fundamental shift in its relations with the U.S. while facing a growing threat from Russia.
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, after a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, said “peace is not far away” and that he hoped to discuss a peace plan with Trump.
Russia attacked two Ukrainian ports on Friday, damaging three Turkish-owned vessels including a ship carrying food supplies, Ukrainian officials and one ship-owner said, days after Moscow threatened to cut Ukraine off from the sea.
Reuters/Wumi