The US President's special envoy for Ukraine, Steve Witkoff, and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, are in Berlin today and tomorrow for talks on a possible ceasefire in Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has also arrived in the German capital, where he will meet with French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, as well as with officials from the European Union and NATO.
According to Chancellor Friedrich Merz, in Berlin – tonight at the level of advisors and tomorrow at the level of leaders – the approach to ending the war will finally be discussed, which, as he said, must now be made concrete.
Tomorrow, Mr. Merz will meet with Volodymyr Zelensky, while the two leaders will participate in the German-Ukrainian Economic Forum taking place in Berlin. The other leaders are expected to arrive in the evening.
A meeting will also take place between the Ukrainian president and the American delegation, as Mr. Zelensky himself stated in his video message.
Berlin will become the capital of European diplomacy in the coming days, Ukrainian Ambassador Oleksiy Mageev wrote on his X account.
Strict security protocol
According to a report by German public television ARD, tonight's meeting of the advisers will be confidential, and it has not been announced exactly who the participants will be, while BILD recently reported the arrival of Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner at a luxury hotel near the Brandenburg Gate.
The city is implementing the strictest possible security protocol, but details, a police spokesman said, will be made public as the operation progresses. Changes should be expected in both traffic flow and public transport routes, he added.
The city center, mainly the area around the chancellery and parliament, has been blocked off since Friday, while strict measures are also being implemented around the hotel where the foreign dignitaries will be staying.
The ceasefire on the current front lines is fair
At the same time, Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that a ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia along the current front lines would be a fair option.
Russia is demanding that Kiev withdraw its military forces from parts of the eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions that it still controls.
Responding to questions from journalists via the WhatsApp messaging app, Zelensky reiterated that the above option would be unfair, adding that the issue of territories remains pending and is very sensitive.
