US dangles security guarantees for Ukraine but no deal on 'painful' territorial concessions

Highlights:

• Trump says 'closer now than we've ever been' to a deal to end Russia's war
• Zelenskiy, US envoys, European leaders meeting in Berlin
• Ukraine willing to drop NATO membership bid for security guarantees
• US says Ukraine could get guarantees similar to NATO's Article 5
• But significant differences remain over territorial issues, Zelenskiy says

The United States has offered to provide NATO-style security guarantees for Kyiv as US and European negotiators reported progress in talks on Monday to end Russia's war in Ukraine, but a deal on territorial concessions remained elusive.

Envoys sent by US President Donald Trump made the unprecedented offer at talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Berlin, US officials said, but warned such a deal would not be on the table forever.

The talks in the German capital have sparked some optimism from European leaders on a path to end Europe's deadliest conflict since World War Two. However, Moscow has yet to agree to any of the changes discussed in Germany and has not indicated any willingness to do so.

"We're trying to get it done," Trump said of an agreement to end the war, speaking at the White House after he called into a dinner involving the key officials in Berlin. "We had numerous conversations with President (Vladimir) Putin of Russia, and I think we're closer now than we have been ever and we'll see what we can do," Trump added.

European leaders cautiously welcomed the Trump administration's apparent shift on security guarantees for Ukraine.

"For the first time since the war began, the possibility of a ceasefire is conceivable," said German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who hosted the meetings, in a post on X.

"Today I had the feeling for the first time ... that everyone was behaving like allies from one camp," Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk told reporters on his plane after leaving Berlin. "For the first time I heard from the mouths of American negotiators... that America would engage in security guarantees for Ukraine in such a way that the Russians would have no doubt that the American response would be military if the Russians attacked Ukraine again."

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said the issue of security guarantees had become "clearer and more credible," which he called an important step toward sustainable peace. "But many difficult questions remain, not least about territories and whether Russia wants peace at all," Kristersson said in a statement after the Berlin talks.

Territorial concessions

Zelenskiy said after the talks that he would ask the US to hit Russia with sanctions and provide Ukraine with more arms, including long-range weapons, if Moscow rejects the proposals being discussed between Kyiv, Washington and European leaders.

"I think America will apply sanctions pressure and give us more weapons if he (Putin) rejects everything," Zelenskiy told reporters in a WhatsApp chat.

Kyiv supports the idea of a ceasefire, in particular for energy strikes, during the Christmas period, he added.

The US is leaning on Ukraine to withdraw its forces from the eastern Donetsk region, an official familiar with the matter said, in what would be a massive concession that could cause a ferocious backlash in Ukraine.

Zelenskiy, who earlier called the issue of territorial concessions "painful," reiterated after the talks that Ukraine will not recognize Donbas as Russian either "de jure or de facto," meaning either by right or in effect.

US officials told reporters by conference call they had secured agreement on 90% of the issues. Though longstanding territorial issues remain, one said, "we've got multiple different solutions to bridge the gap that we are suggesting to them".

Ukraine has said previously it would not cede territory to Russia, which has taken almost 20% of the country in its east and south since its full-scale 2022 February invasion.

A European source briefed on the latest talks said Russia had not yet budged on its territorial demands. "The atmosphere is good but the goals remain quite far apart on the core," the source said.

NATO-style guarantees

Zelenskiy has been holding talks in Berlin with US envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner as well as European leaders.

Kyiv is under intense pressure from Trump to make concessions to Russia.

A US official told reporters later that, under the deal being discussed in Berlin, Ukraine would receive security guarantees similar to those provided in Article 5 of the NATO treaty, which requires the alliance to come to the defence of any member that comes under attack.

Another US official said Russia was open to Ukraine joining the European Union and that Trump wanted to prevent Russia from encroaching further westwards in Europe.

One official said security guarantees, including deconfliction and oversight of any deal, were the major focus of Monday's talks and that an Article 5-like guarantee was something Trump believed he could get Moscow to accept.

Zelenskiy said a document on the security guarantees being discussed is detailed and not just a framework, although he added it still needs work.

Working groups are expected to meet in the US during the coming weekend, possibly in Miami, one of the US officials said. "Are we prepared to go to Russia if needed? Absolutely," the US official added.

A joint statement by leaders of several European countries including Germany, France and Britain said there was a "strong convergence" with the US and stated a list of goals for both sides to work towards.

These included commitments to supporting Ukraine's armed forces, a European-led peacekeeping force and guarantees to use force if Ukraine came under attack again, as well as support for Ukraine to join the EU.

Ukraine said on Sunday it was willing to drop its ambition to join NATO in exchange for Western security guarantees. But it was not immediately clear how much the talks in Berlin could persuade Russia to agree to a ceasefire.

In Moscow, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that Russia's demand that Ukraine not join NATO was a fundamental question in talks on a possible peace settlement.

He said Russia expected an update from the US after the negotiations in Berlin.