The United States wants to achieve peace as quickly as possible, while Ukraine must guarantee the quality of this peace, Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky said, TSN reported.
„If speed and quality match, we are all „for“, Zelensky stressed.
According to him, the original 28-point US peace plan included some points that are no longer available. „This does not mean that we have a perfect plan, but it is a very workable version. And we don't want the deleted points, in different wording, to appear in other documents“, the president said.
The Ukrainian leader said he intends to meet with his American counterpart when “the documents are finalized“. “I think when we finalize the documents or get closer to the final version, we will meet with him“, he was quoted as saying by RBC Ukraine.
According to him, the American side will hold consultations with Russia in the coming days, after which the Ukrainians will meet with the Americans in the United States. “I think maybe even this weekend“, the head of state did not rule out.
“We will see after this meeting. We will consider a meeting at the leadership level, at least with the US president,“ Zelensky added.
He again identified the territorial issue as a key one, on which “there is still no consensus“.
The Ukrainian leader also supported German Chancellor Friedrich Merz's idea of a Christmas truce.
Sky News and Bloomberg, citing an unnamed US official, reported that after talks between the Ukrainian and US delegations in Berlin, 90% of the issues on the peace agreement had been resolved. The key topics of the talks, according to the official, were security guarantees for Kiev, similar to Article 5 of the NATO Charter, and territorial issues.
Zelensky acknowledged that the positions of Kiev and Washington on territory differ, calling the issue of concessions sensitive and the talks in Berlin difficult but productive.
When asked whether Ukraine would have to cede any territory, US President Donald Trump said: “Frankly, they have already lost some territory“.
“Regardless of the outcome“, said Russian presidential adviser Yuri Ushakov, “Donbass is Russian territory“. "If not through negotiations, then the military will hand over this territory under full control of the Russian Federation," he said, stressing that a ceasefire is only possible after Kiev withdraws its troops.
The United States believes that territorial concessions should be part of a peace agreement, said Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, who attended the summit in Berlin.
“If there are security guarantees, then there should be territorial concessions. This is the way the Americans see it to persuade Russia to reach an agreement,” Tusk said.
He noted that potential territorial concessions remain an open and very complex issue, Onet reported. The prime minister stressed that Warsaw would not put any pressure on Kiev and that the decision could only be made by the Ukrainians themselves. He added that a clear statement from the American side about its readiness to participate in security guarantees for Ukraine is crucial.