The Guardian: Peace talks in Berlin will not lead to a quick end to the war

The US held talks in Berlin with Ukrainian and European leaders on a potential peace agreement between Ukraine and Russia, as a result of which an agreement was reached on some important issues, in particular on security guarantees that the US and Europe could offer Ukraine. However, as The Guardian writes, it is still too early to talk about the end of the war for a number of reasons, reports Focus.

So, on Monday, European leaders published a joint declaration with a list of security guarantees. Among them are:

"Multinational forces“ under the leadership of Europe to support the Ukrainian army and protect its air and sea space.

"Legal obligation" of European countries "to take measures to restore peace and security in the event of a future armed attack".

European support for Ukraine's accession to the EU.

"Steady and substantial support" from Europe for "strengthening the armed forces" of Ukraine.

"Mechanism for monitoring and verifying the ceasefire" under the leadership of the US for “early warning of any future attacks“.

The joint declaration signed by the European leaders states that this “will provide credible security guarantees and measures to support Ukraine's economic recovery in the context of the agreement to end the war“. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz told journalists that “there is now a chance for a real peace process“.

However, The Guardian emphasizes that for now this is a kind of “shuttle diplomacy“, in which Ukraine and its European allies are on one side, and Russia - on the other. Then the US negotiators, led by Ambassador Steve Witkoff and Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, will return the offer to Russia. But it is completely unclear whether the Kremlin will sign a peace agreement at this stage.

"American officials familiar with the negotiations say that Russia is ready to sign an agreement with these guarantees for Ukraine's security, but the Trump administration has previously shown excessive optimism about reaching a ceasefire“, the publication notes.

Furthermore, the parties have not yet reached an agreement on what to do with the territory of Ukraine seized by Russia:

"The American delegation, led by Vitkoff and Kushner, is reportedly "discussing" what to do with the seized territories, turning them into "economic free zones". But in reality, they are trying to find a way to force Ukraine to agree to cede its sovereign territory to the invading army, which, according to Kiev, it does not want to do".