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Ukraine holds talks with the US and Europeans in Berlin. Zelensky: "Ready to abandon NATO membership application."

Sunday, December 14

Last updated: 7:49 PM

At the table were U.S. negotiator Steve Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner. Moscow:"There are doubts that Europeans and Ukrainians will support the peace plan."

Ucraina, a Berlino i colloqui con Usa ed europei. Zelensky: “Pronto a rinunciare a richiesta di adesione alla Nato”
  • The Russian Defense Ministry claims that its troops have taken control of the village of Varvarivka, in the Zaporizhzhia region, in southeastern Ukraine. This was reported by the Interfax news agency. The Russian authorities' statements are currently unverifiable.
  • Several Russian raids in Zaporizhzhia have left 14 injured, including a child. Ukraiska Pravda reports this, citing the authorities.
    • “
  • Americans, Europeans and Ukrainians are only asking for peace. While Russia continues its war of aggression, Ukraine resists”: this is what President Emmanuel Macron said today in a phone call to Volodymyr Zelensky, as reported on X by the head of the Elysée himself."France," Macron wrote,"is and will continue to stand alongside Ukraine to build a strong and lasting peace capable of guaranteeing the security and sovereignty of Ukraine and Europe in the long term." The French president concluded by thanking "all Ukrainian, European, and American negotiators mobilized for this goal."
    • "Unfortunately, Mr. Rutte is making these
  • irresponsible statements and simply does not understand what he is talking about." Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, in an interview with Russian state television reported by Tass, commented on NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, who, according to international media reports, said on Thursday:"We must be prepared for the scale of the war that our grandfathers or great-grandfathers had to endure." Rutte, several newspapers report, also said that the alliance's members could, in his opinion, be"Russia's next target" and urged an increase in military defenses to "avoid such a scenario." “We, thank God, grew up in a country where the memory of this event, of how horrible it was and of what we managed to do to save Europe from fascism, is carefully preserved,” the Kremlin replied. 4:39 PM Zelensky and Trump's envoys begin meeting The meeting between Ukrainian President Voldymyr Zelensky and Trump's envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner has begun in Berlin. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz was also present at the meeting, as can be seen from photos published by the Ukrainian leader on Telegram. Volodymyr Zelensky declared that he was ready to renounce his NATO membership application in exchange for security guarantees from the United States and Europe, in a move aimed at advancing the peace talks scheduled to begin today in Berlin. The Financial Times reported this. “We are talking about bilateral security guarantees between Ukraine and the United States, that is, guarantees on the model of Article 5 as well as security guarantees for us from our European partners and other countries such as Canada, Japan and others,” Zelensky told reporters in a WhatsApp chat.Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says he wants to convince the Americans in Berlin to support a freezing of the front line in Ukraine. For Zelensky, a fair and realistic ceasefire option in Ukraine could be the principle of"stay where we are," meaning the parties maintain their current positions and all issues are resolved through diplomatic channels."In response to our signal to 'stay where we are,' the Russians are responding that Ukraine must withdraw from Donbass, otherwise they will occupy it anyway," Zelensky said. For the Ukrainian leader, if Ukrainian troops must withdraw, then the Russians should do the same."If Ukrainian troops are retreating 5-10 kilometers, why shouldn't Russian troops retreat the same distance in the occupied territories? Therefore, this is an unanswered question, but it is very sensitive and highly controversial," Zelensky emphasized. "Today we have Ukrainian-American Day in Berlin. Of course, I will meet separately with Chancellor Merz and, probably, I will meet with some of our European leaders again in the evening," the Ukrainian president said in a statement to the media Volodymyr
    • Zelensky
    , according to
    Rbc

    . So far, Ukraine has not received any official reaction from the United States regarding the latest proposals regarding the peace plan. According to Zelensky, some signals are coming through the negotiating team."I haven't received the United States' reaction yet. I've received several messages through my negotiating team. But I'm getting all the signals and will be ready for the dialogue that begins today," he explained, noting that today marks the start of a very busy diplomatic day in Berlin. The first planes carrying state guests and negotiating delegations for the summit on Ukraine in Berlin landed this morning. According to Bild, at 8:22 a.m., a private US plane (Bombardier Global 700) landed at Berlin's BER airport. The plane was coming from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, just 60 kilometers from the US president's private residence at Mar-a-Lago. On board: US negotiator Steve Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner. Both were escorted to the city center via Berlin's urban highway. Access to Berlin from the airport (southeast) was blocked. A long convoy of armored limousines and motorized support vehicles sped toward the city center. Just under an hour later, at 10:17 a.m., another US government aircraft, a Gulfstream (C-37A), landed at the government terminal, having taken off from a US air base in Brussels. Since Friday, the entire center of Berlin has been transformed into a maximum security zone: barricades, federal and state police, video surveillance and radar, snipers, and communications intelligence. According to the White House, Witkoff also intends to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and European heads of state. The goal: a possible ceasefire. German government sources indicate that foreign policy advisers,"including those from the United States and Ukraine," will hold initial talks first. Chancellor Friedrich Merz had previously stated that"definitive" discussions on how to end the war would take place in Berlin over the weekend. A clear signal: now things will get down to business. Merz and Zelensky will then meet directly on Monday. Other political heavyweights are expected in Berlin this evening: several European heads of state and government, as well as the leaders of the EU and NATO. Russia has not yet seen the peace proposals drawn up by the EU and Ukraine, but doubts whether they can make a constructive contribution to the peace process, Kremlin adviser Yuri Ushakov was quoted by Tass. “I think it is unlikely that the Ukrainians and Europeans will make a constructive contribution to the documents,” Ushakov told TV journalist Pavel Zarubin. “We haven't seen them (the proposals,

    ed.

    ) yet,” Ushakov added.

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