Ukraine: Zelenskyy meets US, European officials in Berlin

Sunday's discussions in Berlin between Ukrainian and US officials on ending Russia's war in Ukraine have concluded for the night, with the talks set to continue on Monday.

In a message sent to reporters over WhatsApp, Ukrainian presidential adviser Dmytro Lytvyn, said the talks "went on for more than five hours and ended for today with an agreement to resume tomorrow morning."

Lytvyn added Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy would comment on the discussions on Monday once they were completed.

Zelenskyy has been reviewing proposals for a settlement to bring an end to the war with Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff and the US president's son-in-law Jared Kushner.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz was also taking part in the meetings.

Ukraine's Preisdent Volodymyr Zelenskyy is meeting with US special envoy Steve Witkoff and US President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner in Berlin for talks between the Ukrainian and American sides. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz is also present at the discussion. 

"We began our meeting," Zelenskyy posted on Telegram. 

Prior to the meeting, Zelenskyy said in a post on X that "the key thing is that all the steps we agree on with partners must work in partners to deliver guaranteed security." 

"Only reliable guarantees can deliver peace. We count on our partners to continue working constructively as well," he added.  

Zelenskyy has emphasized security guarantees from the West if a ceasefire with Russia is secured. Ukrainian leaders want the guarantees in case Russia attacks Ukraine again.  

Zelenskyy has ruled out giving up land to Russia in exchange for a ceasefire deal with Moscow.

Russia has insisted that Ukraine must withdraw from all of the eastern Donbas region as a condition for any agreement, including from areas that are not under Russian control.

DW has this video report on the situation in Odesa after a night of Russian aerial attacks: 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has arrived in the German capital ahead of talks on resolving the conflict in his country, the Ukrainian presidency has said.

US President Trump's special envoy, Steve Witkoff, and Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, were said to have arrived earlier in the day for the negotiations, which will also involve European officials.

The Kremlin on Sunday described remarks by NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte calling on the Western military alliance to be prepared for a potential war with Russia "irresponsible."

In a speech on Berlin on Thursday, Rutte said NATO should be "prepared for the scale of war our grandparents or great-grandparents endured," saying that "we are Russia's next target."

"This seems like a statement by a representative of a generation that has managed to forget what World War Two was actually like," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told a state television reporter.

"They have no understanding, and unfortunately, Mr. Rutte, making such irresponsible statements, simply does not understand what he is talking about," Peskov added.

The Kremlin has repeatedly rejected claims by NATO and some European leaders that it plans to attack a NATO member.  

Ukraine's forces have hit the Afipsky oil refinery in Russia's Krasnodar region and an oil depot in the Volgograd region, the Ukrainian General Staff said on Sunday.

In a statement, it said that Kyiv's troops struck several military targets in the Russian-occupied Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia regions and Crimea.

A Russian regional governor earlier said that an oil depot in Uryupinsk in the Volgograd region caught fire after drone debris fell on the facility, as reported in this blog.

Ahead of talks with US and European officials in Berlin, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said it is critical that the negotiations deliver results.

"Ukraine needs peace on dignified terms, and we are ready to work as constructively as possible," he wrote on X on Sunday.

"The coming days will be filled with diplomacy. It is critically important that it delivers results," he added.

Earlier in his statement, he wrote that "hundreds of thousands of families are still without electricity in Mykolaiv, Odesa, Kherson, Chernihiv, Donetsk, Sumy, and Dnipro regions" following Russian strikes.

"Russia is dragging out the war and seeks to inflict as much harm as possible on our people," he wrote. "In total, the Russians launched more than 1,500 attack drones, nearly 900 guided aerial bombs, and 46 missiles of various types against Ukraine this week."

Zelenskyy's remarks came as US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner were reported to have arrived in Berlin for the talks.

 

A poll has shown that one in two people in Germany is in favor of using Russian assets frozen in the European Union for loans to Ukraine — a move that remains highly contentious within the bloc.

In the poll, conducted by the Insa Institute for Sunday's edition of the mass-circulation Bild newspaper, 47% said they supported doing so, 34% said they were opposed and 7% said they were not interested in the matter. 

The survey comes after the EU on Friday created a basis for using the assets to fund Ukraine, with 25 of the 27 member states voting to prohibit a return transfer to Russia indefinitely.

Russia, which vehemently opposes the plans, would get the money back only if it pays reparations and makes full amends for its invasion.

Russia's central bank has around €210 billion ($246.6 billion) of assets frozen in the EU.

The survey also showed that 44% of people in Germany want their country to support Ukraine next year as much as or more than it currently does, while 42% want it to give less support.

Russia's aviation regulator said on Saturday that at least 10 airports, including in Moscow and Saint Petersburg, imposed temporary flight restrictions during the night because of the danger posed by incoming Ukrainian drones.

The Russian Defense Ministry said its air defense systems intercepted and destroyed 235 of the unmanned aircraft.

An oil depot in Uryupinsk in the Volgograd region caught fire after drone debris fell on the facility, a regional governor said.

Ukraine on Saturday accused Russia of carrying out a drone strike on a Turkish vessel in the Black Sea, a day after amother Russian attack caused a fire on a Turkish-owned ship at a Ukrainian port.

"Russia delivered a targeted strike using a drone against the Turkish vessel 'VIVA,' which was en route to Egypt carrying sunflower oil," Ukraine's navy said on social media.

It said there were no injuries among the 11 crew on board the ship and that the ship had been able to continue its journey.

The ship was in Ukraine's exclusive economic zone and sailing in a grain corridor along Ukraine's coastline that is supposed to allow vessels carrying vital agricultural cargoes to pass safely through the Black Sea.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned the attack, calling it "a strike against food security" and "a direct challenge by Russia to the whole world."  

The reported strike comes after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called for a stop to attacks on ports and energy facilities during a meeting with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Friday.

Ukraine and Russia remain far apart on the conditions for putting an end to Moscow's invasion of its neighbor.

Here are some of the main points of contention:

• The US plan for peace that has formed the basis of recent negotiations foresees large-scale territorial concessions to Russia, notably of the Donbas region, that Ukraine has rejected
• Russia and the US say Ukraine should not be allowed to join NATO, while Kyiv has pressed to be able to enter the Western military alliance
• Ukraine wants to retain the  Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, currently occupied by Russia, which claims it as its own
• Ukraine also wants comprehensive international security guarantees to ensure that it does not come under renewed Russian attack in the future

Read more coverage about the US plan here

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has confirmed that he intends to participate in talks in Berlin on ending the conflict in the country.

However, it remained unclear whether he would arrive in Berlin on Sunday and meet the US special envoy, Steve Witkoff.

"The most important are my meetings with representatives of [US] President [Donald] Trump, as well as meetings with our European partners and many leading politicians about the foundation of peace — a political agreement to end the war," Zelenskyy said in a video message posted Saturday on Facebook.

The talks in Berlin, which are to be held at an as yet undisclosed location, are initially planned at an adviser level on a potential ceasefire in Ukraine.

Talks are also planned on the reconstruction of the war-ravaged country between Ukrainian officials and representatives of the US and European states.

Zelenskyy is also expected to attend an economic meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz by Monday at the latest.

 

You join our coverage of developments regarding Russia's war in Ukraine as Ukrainian, US and European officials are set for a round of negotiations in Berlin on a possible peace agreement.

They come as the US Trump administration puts growing pressure on Kyiv to accept its peace plan, which, however, envisages a number of concessions to Moscow that Ukraine has so far rejected.

No representatives from the aggressor nation, Russia, are to be present at the talks, which come a day after German Chancellor Friedrich Merz warned that that Russian President Vladimir Putin would continue his advance if Ukraine is defeated.

DW will track developments at the Berlin talks and from the conflict in Ukraine throughout the day.