The United States and Ukraine will negotiate a cease-fire in Berlin before the European summit.

Germany will host US and Ukrainian teams this weekend for discussions for a cease-fire in Ukraine, ahead of a meeting with European leaders and President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Berlin on Monday, according to a German official.

According to a US official, President Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner are traveling to Germany for discussions with Ukrainian and European officials.
The decision to send Witkoff, who has spearheaded discussions with Ukraine and Russia on a US peace plan, appeared to indicate that Washington saw a prospect for progress after almost four years of conflict since Russia’s 2022 invasion.

The White House stated on Thursday that Trump would send an official to discussions only if he believed there was enough progress to be achieved.

Show your support for Ukraine.
“Talks on a possible ceasefire in Ukraine are taking place in Berlin this weekend between foreign policy advisers from, among others, the US and Ukraine,” a German government source said on Saturday when asked about the negotiations.

Merz will host Zelenskiy and European leaders for a conference in Berlin on Monday, the latest in a string of public displays of support for the Ukrainian leader from friends throughout Europe as Kyiv is pressured by Washington to sign on to a peace plan that initially supported Moscow’s core objectives.

Britain, France, and Germany have been working in recent weeks to modify the US plans, which, according to a draft released last month, called for Kyiv to give additional land, forsake its aspiration to join NATO, and accept restrictions on its military weapons.

Merz said in a speech on Saturday that Europe must prepare for a profound transition in its relationship with the United States while confronting a growing danger from Russia.

“The decades of Pax Americana are basically ended for us in Europe, including Germany. It no longer exists in the way we knew it. “And nostalgia will not change that,” he told a party gathering in Munich, in southern Germany.

“Americans are now very aggressively pursuing their own interests. And this can only mean one thing: we must now follow our own interests.