U.S. President Donald Trump’s foreign envoy is scheduled to visit Germany this weekend to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and European leaders for high-level talks aimed at ending the war.
Steve Witkoff, who has led the White House’s efforts to mediate between Ukraine and Russia, will discuss the latest version of the proposed peace deal in Berlin.
The Trump administration is pushing to reach a deal by Christmas and has held several meetings with Ukrainian and Russian representatives in recent weeks, but there are few signs that a breakthrough is imminent.
It has not yet been confirmed which European leaders will attend the Berlin conference.
The Wall Street Journal, which first reported the meeting, said that British Prime Minister Kir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron, and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz will all attend.
Confirmation of the Witkoff-Zelensky meeting comes just days after Ukraine submitted to the United States a revised version of its 20-point peace plan, the latest version of a proposal that first emerged in late November and sparked a flurry of diplomatic activity.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian officials said Russia carried out massive bombing raids in the south of the country on Friday.
The head of the Odessa region said civilian facilities, including energy and industrial infrastructure, had been damaged. A Turkish car ferry docked in the port city of Odessa was hit by a strike and a major fire broke out.
In Russia, regional governor Roman Busargin said two people were killed in a drone attack on a residential building in Saratov.
The fate of Ukraine’s eastern territories remains one of the most intractable topics in negotiations. Kiev has refused to hand over illegally occupied land, and Moscow has reiterated its intention to completely occupy the Donbas region by force unless Ukraine withdraws.
Prime Minister Zelenskyy has expressed skepticism about the White House’s latest proposals to resolve the territorial issue. The proposal would see Ukrainian troops withdraw from the area and turn it into a “special economic zone.”
Ukraine’s president told reporters that under the terms proposed by the United States, the Kremlin would not advance into areas where Ukrainian troops had withdrawn, and the land between the Russian-controlled Donbas region and Ukraine’s defenses would become a de facto demilitarized zone.
The proposal, which appears to be an attempt to resolve legal ownership issues by giving new status to the land, was publicly questioned by Zelensky, who said: “What will stop (Russia) from advancing? Or will we stop infiltration disguised as civilians?”
Ukraine and its European allies have said publicly that the U.S.-led talks have been fruitful and have welcomed progress toward securing amendments to the plan, which was widely seen as favorable to Russia when it first emerged.
But there have been signs in recent weeks that President Trump is losing patience with Zelensky and his backers on the continent.
In a scathing interview with Politico earlier this week, the US president criticized European leaders as “weak” and again called on Ukraine to hold elections.
Zelenskyy said elections could be held within 90 days if the United States and Europe provided the necessary security. Elections were suspended after Russia launched a full-scale invasion in February 2022 and martial law was declared.
As the White House’s diplomatic push continues, discussions on security guarantees and funding are underway in Europe, and attention is focused on how Ukraine will be supported if a peace agreement is concluded.
The Ukrainian government faces a dire financial situation. An additional €135.7 billion (£119 billion, $159 billion) needs to be raised over the next two years.
On Friday, European Union governments agreed to indefinitely freeze about 210 billion euros (185 billion pounds, $247) worth of Russian assets held in Europe.
A deal reached at an EU summit next week that could provide Kiev with military support and efforts to rebuild parts of the country devastated after nearly four years of all-out war is expected to clear the way for funds to be loaned back to Ukraine.
The Kremlin denounced the move as theft, and Russia’s central bank said it would sue Belgian bank Euroclear, which froze most of its Russian assets after the invasion.
Officials were still negotiating the exact structure of a deal to repurpose Russian assets on behalf of Ukraine, and the Belgian government was particularly skeptical due to its special legal exposure as a major holder.
Elsewhere, it has been reported that the latest version of the peace plan being circulated includes Ukraine’s rapid accession to the European Union.
The Financial Times said Brussels supported Ukraine’s rapid EU accession, an idea proposed in the latest draft the country submitted to Washington.
Ukraine formally applied for EU membership just days after the 2022 invasion, but despite promises of an accelerated process, membership is still years away.
Under the plan, Ukraine would become a member as early as January 2027, AFP reported, citing an unnamed senior official. It was unclear whether Washington approved that element of the draft.
