“We had a conversation. It was common with all the leaders, and first of all there was a brief from the American team. Then I communicated from our entire Ukrainian team and shared the steps that we worked on and how we see further,” Zelensky said.
He noted that German Chancellor Friedrich Merz spoke on behalf of the German team during this conversation; the Ukrainian President did not mention other leaders.
“Overall, there was unity demonstrated, and it was really positive in terms of the fact that it was the unity of the United States, Europe and Ukraine,” he added.
Context
Before the meeting in Berlin, the Ukrainian and US delegations had already held seven rounds of negotiations on a “peace plan” for resolving the Russian-Ukrainian war. In parallel, the American side is discussing this issue with the Russian Federation.
Negotiations between the Ukrainian and US delegations in Berlin took place on December 14 and 15. After the first meeting, US Presidential Envoy Steve Witkoff reported that “significant progress has been achieved” in the negotiations. December 15 Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council, member of the Ukrainian negotiating group Rustem Umerov expressed hope that by the evening it will be possible to “reach an agreement that will bring us closer to peace.”
The media wrote that Ukraine at this meeting sought a ceasefire without territorial concessions and that Zelensky offered to abandon Ukraine’s accession to NATO in exchange for security guarantees. According to media reports, the United States offered Ukraine “extremely strong” security guarantees, but this offer “does not will be on the negotiating table forever.” The delegations in Berlin managed to agree on 90% of the issues, and among seems unsettled those relating to territories and the sovereignty of Ukraine, stated anonymous sources of Western publications.
On the evening of December 15 in Berlin, the leaders of several European countries gathered for a meeting on Ukraine, they were joined by Vitkoff and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner. The leaders issued a general statement of support for Ukraine. Trump said he had a “very good” conversation with European leaders about the war in Ukraine. In his opinion, “things are going well.”
