Closing summary
We are wrapping our coverage of the Berlin talks for tonight.
Here is a summary of what happened today:
European leaders, US negotiators and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy have all hailed “significant progress” on Ukraine talks after crunch talks in Berlin, while noting some areas of disagreements still required further work (18:22, 18:42).
A group of European leaders, including UK’s Keir Starmer, France’s Emmanuel Macron and Germany’s Friedrich Merz, issued a detailed statement welcoming the progress and outlining key areas – including security guarantees, support for armed forces, and presence of a European-led multinational force in Ukraine – that are being agreed, but noted that “nothing is agreed until everything is agreed” (20:15).
In an unusually upbeat update, US negotiators involved in the Berlin talks claimed that “90%” of the issues between Ukraine and Russia have been resolved (17:56).
US president Trump said “we are closer now … than we have ever been” to a peace agreement on Ukraine, but admitted “it’s a difficult one,” as he praised “a long discussion” with European leaders, praising them for “tremendous support” for ending the war (21:36), a significant tone shift compared to his last week’s comments on his EU counterparts.
Trump also confirmed the ongoing work on security guarantees to be provided for Ukraine to “so the war doesn’t start again,” saying “Europe would be a big part of that” (22:05).
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy also sounded cautiously positive, but made it clear that he needed more detail on security guarantees before he can contemplate any far-reaching asks, including for concessions on territory (18:13).
Separately, the EU’s discussion on the use of frozen Russian assets to fund its help for Ukraine continued amid signs that the bloc is bitterly divided on the European Commission’s proposals, complicating the prospect of its adoption at this week’s European Council (11:52, 18:21, 19:11).
And that’s all from me, Jakub Krupa, for today.
If you have any tips, comments or suggestions, email me at [email protected].
I am also on Bluesky at @jakubkrupa.bsky.social and on X at @jakubkrupa.
US working with Europe on security guarantees so 'war doesn't start again,' Trump says
Responding to questions from reporters, Trump repeated largely the same lines, saying “I want to see it end, they want to see it end, and I actually think that president Putin wants to see it end.”
He also said he recently spoke with Putin, without offering more detail.
Pressed further, Trump also said that the US administration was working with Europe on “the security guarantees so the war doesn’t start again,” and “Europe would be a big part of that.”
But, more contentiously, in response to a question on whether Ukraine would need to give up any territory he muttered “they have already lost some territory, to be honest.”
He said there was no time limit on reaching a deal, and “the time limit is whenever we get it done.”
