European leaders gather in Berlin as Washington presses for a speedy Ukraine settlement
European figures, including Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron, are slated to meet Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Monday in Berlin for a show of backing hosted by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, as the United States pushes to wrap up the conflict in Ukraine swiftly.
The British prime minister, the French president, and leaders from NATO and the EU—who have previously argued that prior US peace proposals were too favorable to Moscow—will assemble with Zelenskyy this Monday evening at Merz’s central Berlin office.
A German government spokesperson noted that Steve Witkoff, the US president’s special envoy, and his son-in-law Jared Kushner, who were conducting a fresh round of peace talks with Zelenskyy in Berlin on Monday, had also received invitations to the working dinner.
Witkoff posted on social media that significant progress had been made after a five-and-a-half-hour meeting with Zelenskyy at Merz’s Chancellery on Sunday, though he did not provide specifics.
A photograph released by Merz’s team showed the chancellor seated beside Zelenskyy on Sunday, with Witkoff and Kushner across the table, signaling solidarity; Merz himself did not participate in the talks.
Trump has grown increasingly impatient to end four years of fighting, initially aiming for a resolution by Thanksgiving. Zelenskyy has indicated that the US leader is aiming for a Christmas deadline to secure a comprehensive understanding of a peace plan.
Efforts to define workable terms have stalled on several major points, including who controls Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region, which remains largely under Russian occupation.
On Sunday, Zelenskyy signaled openness to dropping Ukraine’s bid to join NATO if the US and other Western partners could guarantee Kyiv’s security legally—guarantees comparable to those extended to alliance members.
In response to reporters’ questions in a WhatsApp chat, Zelenskyy stated that bilateral security guarantees with the US, an Article 5–style commitment from Washington, and security assurances from European colleagues and other nations such as Canada and Japan, could help prevent another invasion by Russia. He also said he hoped Washington would consider freezing the frontline where it stands rather than ceding all of Donbas, describing that as the fairest possible option.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has framed Ukraine’s NATO ambitions as a direct threat to Moscow, prompting Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters that the issue remains a cornerstone and will be discussed in depth, adding that Moscow expects a US briefing on the Berlin talks once they conclude.
European leaders stressed that the outcome of the Berlin discussions would shape their security for decades to come.
Merz, who has led European efforts to support Ukraine alongside Macron and Starmer, warned over the weekend that the long-standing Pax Americana is largely over for Europe and Germany, underscoring a shift in strategic dependence on the US for global peace and security.
Pax Americana refers to reliance on the US’s military and diplomatic influence to maintain relative global peace. Merz argued that Putin’s objective includes a fundamental redraw of Europe’s borders and a revival of the Soviet-era footprint within its frontiers.
“If Ukraine falls, he won’t stop,” Merz told a Munich conference of conservatives.
Russia has dismissed Kyiv’s NATO ambitions as a threat to its security.
In a post on X, Macron pledged that France would stay by Ukraine’s side to build a durable peace—one that guarantees Ukraine’s sovereignty and European security over the long term.
In London, the new MI6 chief was set to warn that Russia remains an aggressive, expansionist threat in her first address since taking office. Blaise Metreweli, the first woman to lead MI6, was slated to emphasize continued Western support for Ukraine.
Meanwhile, the EU is scrambling to finalize a multi-year funding plan for Ukraine by leveraging frozen Russian assets, with a leaders’ summit scheduled to begin on Thursday and a deal still unresolved.
This report incorporates contributions from Reuters and the Associated Press.
