Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky reaffirmed his willingness to engage in dialogue ahead of talks with Europeans and Americans about a diplomatic solution to the war in Ukraine planned for today, Sunday (December 14, 2025) and tomorrow, Monday, in Germany. “The summit in Berlin is important,” Zelensky said during an online press conference, noting that talks were planned “today and tomorrow” in the German capital.
“Today we have a Ukrainian-American day in Berlin,” he said, referring to meetings planned in the German capital between the Ukrainian negotiating team led by National Security and Defense Council Secretary Rustem Umérov and US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner.
Before his departure for Berlin, Zelenskyj indicated that, in addition to US President Donald Trump’s envoys, he would also meet separately with Chancellor Friedrich Merz and, probably in the afternoon, “with some other European heads of state and government.”
Russia rejects changes to peace plan
He added that he had not yet received a response from the United States to the latest version of the plan with proposals to end the conflict, which was amended this week by Kiev and its European allies and later sent to Washington. Days earlier, Trump accused him of not reading the proposal. “No, I have not yet received a response from the United States. I have heard several messages through my negotiating team, but I have received all signals and am ready for the dialogue that will begin now,” the Ukrainian president said in Berlin.
However, the Kremlin rejected in advance any changes that Ukrainians and Europeans had made to the US peace plan. “If the relevant changes are made, we will have very strong objections,” Yuri Ushakov, the Kremlin’s international policy adviser, told Russian public television.
Zelensky insists on security guarantees
The Ukrainian president reiterated that Kiev wants security guarantees from its European allies and Washington to deter Russia from attacking it again in the event of a ceasefire. “We are considering a 20-point framework plan that will culminate in a ceasefire (…) we want to ensure that the war does not happen again,” he explained.
He specified that the “bilateral security talks” are currently discussing a mechanism based on Article 5 of NATO (which provides for the mutual protection of member states), without Ukraine having to officially join the Atlantic Alliance.
LGC (APF, EFE)
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