Berlin (AFP) - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky pushed on with high-stakes talks in Berlin on Monday with US President Donald Trump’s envoys aimed at ending the war with Russia, but thorny territorial questions remained unresolved.

Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff said on X that “a lot of progress” had been made during a meeting on Sunday that also involved the US president’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.

Ukraine, battling a gruelling war since Russia’s invasion in February 2022, hopes to convince the United States that a ceasefire must be agreed without prior territorial concessions to Russia.

However, an official briefed on the talks told AFP on Monday that US negotiators still want Ukraine to cede control of the eastern Donbas region as a condition of peace talks with Russia, a red line for Kyiv.

Russian President Vladimir “Putin wants territory,” the official said, adding that the United States was demanding that Ukraine “withdraw” from the regions – and that Kyiv was “not agreeing” to this demand.

“It’s a bit striking that the Americans are taking the Russians’ position on this issue,” the official added.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, hosting the crisis diplomacy in Berlin, was to meet Zelensky before they were to be joined in the evening by European leaders and the heads of NATO and the European Union in a show of support for Ukraine.

Central Berlin has been turned into a high-security zone with road closures for motorcades and police snipers on rooftops, dog patrols on the streets and anti-drone units surveying the skies.

One dignatory, Finnish President Alexander Stubb, known to have close relations with Trump, on Sunday met with Kushner in Berlin, his office said, and held talks with Zelensky on Monday.

- ‘Intensive negotiations’ -

Trump has pushed strongly for an end to the war, but an initial 28-point plan last month was seen as heavily favouring Russia’s position by Kyiv and its European allies.

Ukraine has since presented counter-proposals and Zelenksy said on Sunday his country was ready to compromise on its desired NATO membership, provided it received solid security guarantees in return.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists, including AFP, on Monday on the NATO point that “this issue is one of the cornerstones and requires special discussion”.

He added that Russia was expecting the United States to “provide us with the concept that is being discussed in Berlin today”.

German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul voiced cautious optimism, tempered with worries about whether Putin would back away from his demands.

“I believe the negotiations have never been as serious as they are now. They are being conducted very intensively,” Wadephul said.

“But whether it will be successful, we won’t know until the end of the week. Of course, every effort is worthwhile in this historic situation to finally end this terrible dying and bring this war to a close.

“What we still don’t know is whether Vladimir Putin truly has a genuine will to end this war.”

Zelensky was to meet German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, then join Merz at a Ukrainian-German business conference before both give a joint press conference.

In the evening they were to have dinner with European leaders including Britain’s Keir Starmer, Italy’s Giorgia Meloni, Poland’s Donald Tusk and Finland’s Stubb.

France’s Emmanuel Macron will also attend, according to Berlin, as well as NATO chief Mark Rutte and European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen.

Zelensky has said that – although there was no strict deadline to finalise an agreement – Washington wanted to have the contours of a deal ready by Christmas.

The Ukrainian president said on Sunday: “The most important thing is that the plan should be as fair as possible, first and foremost for Ukraine, because Russia started the war.”

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