Media: US negotiators pressed Ukraine in Berlin to cede remaining Donbas territory

It has emerged that US negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner pressed Ukrainian representatives during talks in Berlin on Sunday 14 December to give up the part of Donbas still under Kyiv's control.

As reported by AFP, US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff said that "a lot of progress" was made during a meeting on Sunday 14 December that also involved Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner.

Ukraine, which has been fighting a gruelling war since Russia invaded in February 2022, hopes to persuade the United States that any ceasefire must be agreed upon without prior territorial concessions to Russia.

However, an official familiar with the talks told AFP on Monday 15 December that the US negotiators still want Ukraine to give up control of Donbas as a condition for peace talks with Russia.

Kremlin leader Vladimir "Putin wants territory", the official said, adding that the United States is demanding that Ukraine "withdraw" from these oblasts and that Kyiv is "not agreeing" to this demand.

"It's a bit striking that the Americans are taking the Russians' position on this issue," the source familiar with the talks.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who is hosting the crisis diplomacy meeting in Berlin, is scheduled to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. European leaders as well as the heads of NATO and the European Union are expected to join them later in the evening to show their support for Ukraine.

Talks between Ukrainian and US delegations on a "peace plan" ended in Berlin on the afternoon of 15 December.

According to the schedule disclosed by the Office of the President of Ukraine, the meeting of the leaders is due to begin at 20:00 Kyiv time.

Previous talks between the Ukrainian and US delegations, attended by Zelenskyy, took place on 14 December.