At the Adlon Hotel in Berlin, an iconic site of 20th-century international diplomacy, Volodymyr Zelensky attempted to bring the United States closer to Ukraine's position, in order to achieve an honorable peace and not a surrender to Moscow.
"Freezing the front line" was the first proposal made in the meeting with US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, addressing Russia's claim to annex all of Donbas. Kiev then expressed its willingness to compromise on NATO: renouncing full membership in exchange for American security guarantees. Host Friedrich Merz, present for an initial greeting, joined the Ukrainian leader, representing a Europe that will deploy its full weight tomorrow by marshalling a group of leaders, including Giorgia Meloni, around a table. Zelensky flew to Germany aware of the critical stage of the negotiations, with Trump increasingly impatient with the protracted war and willing to accede to most of Russia's demands.
For this reason, the Ukrainian president assured that he is "ready for dialogue," but without intending to give in entirely. Regarding the territorial issue, Zelensky believes that a fair and realistic ceasefire option could be the "stay where we are" principle , meaning the parties maintain their current positions and all issues will be resolved through diplomatic channels.
"If Ukrainian troops retreat 5-10 kilometers, why shouldn't Russian troops retreat the same distance in occupied territories?" is the objection raised to the Americans regarding their idea of creating a sort of demilitarized buffer zone. Freezing the front line would allow Kiev to focus on the other central chapter of the negotiations. The goal is to obtain "bilateral security guarantees between Ukraine and the United States, namely guarantees along the lines of Article 5, as well as security guarantees for us from our European partners and other countries such as Canada, Japan, and others," Zelensky declared. In exchange, he would renounce membership in the Atlantic Alliance, thus neutralizing the Russian veto.
From what has emerged in the media so far, the White House would be willing to endorse the Article 5 option by having it approved by Congress to make it legally binding. After the face-to-face meeting with the Ukrainians, the Americans were scheduled to meet again with the national security advisers of Germany, France, and the United Kingdom.
"Americans, Europeans, and Ukrainians are only asking for peace, while Russia continues its war of aggression," Emmanuel Macron denounced after a phone call with Zelensky. "Difficult questions await us, but we are determined to move forward," because "Ukrainian interests are also European interests," echoed Merz, who tomorrow will meet in person with a group of European heads of state and government (France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, Poland, and Finland) and the NATO and EU leaders. According to plans leaked from Berlin, the meeting will be over dinner, but it's unclear whether Trump's envoys will also attend.
In the German capital, according to Bild, the Russians are "indirectly present" because Yuri Ushakov is in contact with Witkoff. But Vladimir Putin's chief negotiator has shown little interest in Ukrainian and European activism toward the Americans: "I think their contribution is unlikely to be constructive," the Kremlin presidential adviser noted, warning: "If there are significant amendments" to the initial American draft, "we will have strong objections, since we have expressed our position very clearly." Ushakov then dismissed Zelensky's openness to new elections as a ploy "to secure a temporary ceasefire for a certain period and resume fighting later."
(Unioneonline)