During negotiations in Berlin, American negotiators pressured Ukraine to relinquish parts of the Donbas currently under its control as a condition for a peace process with Russia. This was reported by The WP Times, citing AFP, which in turn refers to The Guardian. According to a source familiar with the talks, Steve Witkoff, a special envoy of former US President Donald Trump, said during a meeting — which was also attended by Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law — that “significant progress” had been made in the negotiations.
At the same time, the AFP source stressed that the US position remains unchanged. Washington continues to insist that Ukraine withdraw its troops from the areas of the Donbas currently under Kyiv’s control. Ukraine rejects this demand and maintains that any ceasefire must be achieved without prior territorial concessions to Russia.
“Putin wants territory,” the official said, adding that US demands effectively coincide with Moscow’s position. In the view of the source, such a stance by the American side appears “somewhat strange”.
Talks in Berlin
Earlier, media reports said that a meeting of European leaders was scheduled to take place in Berlin on 15 December, including UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron, together with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The parties intend to discuss a peace plan concerning Ukraine.
Ahead of this meeting, negotiations began in the German capital between a Ukrainian delegation led by President Zelenskyy and US special envoy Steve Witkoff, as well as Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of former US President Donald Trump. The talks lasted more than five hours, after which Witkoff said that “substantial progress” had been achieved. Today, 15 December, the second round of consultations between the Ukrainian and US delegations began in Berlin, focusing on the US peace plan aimed at ending the war.
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