A European-led ‘multinational force Ukraine’ made up from contributions from willing nations within the framework of the Coalition of the Willing and supported by the US, will help secure peace in Ukraine, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said.
In a statement, Chancellor Merz stated that the multinational force would facilitate the “regeneration of Ukraine’s forces, in securing Ukraine’s skies, and in supporting safer seas, including through operating inside Ukraine.”
He went on to say: “It is now incumbent upon Russia to show willingness to work towards a lasting peace by agreeing to President Trump’s peace plan and to demonstrate their commitment to end the fighting by agreeing to a ceasefire. Leaders agreed to continue to increase pressure on Russia to bring Moscow to negotiate in earnest.”
Merz said that a ceasefire in Ukraine is in sight for the first time since the start of the war, after hosting Ukrainian, European and US representatives in Berlin.
“The possibility of a ceasefire is conceivable. We want to walk the path to peace together, with the Ukrainians, our European neighbours and the US,” Merz wrote in a post on X.
US President Donald Trump, speaking at a White House event on Monday after he called into a dinner in Berlin at which US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner were holding talks about Ukraine with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European leaders, said, “I think we’re closer now than we have been ever.”
Meanwhile, US negotiators have told Ukraine at peace talks in Berlin that it must agree to withdraw from the Donetsk region to end the war with Russia, but have also made a “considerable” offer to guarantee post-war security.
As Ukrainian and US negotiators concluded a second day of talks in the German capital, Kyiv requested further discussions, a source speaking on condition of anonymity told Reuters. A second person familiar with the talks said there were still major obstacles to overcome to reach a deal on territory.
Calling the issue of territorial concessions “painful,” President Zelenskyy confirmed to reporters later in the day that differences over the matter persisted.
“Frankly speaking, we still have different positions,” he said, adding, however, that he believed US mediators would help find a compromise.
Kyiv’s negotiators would continue consultations with US counterparts, he said, adding that Ukraine needed a clear understanding of security guarantees, including the monitoring of a ceasefire, before making any decisions regarding the war’s front lines.
“I do not think that [the US] has demanded anything,” President Zelenskyy said. “I see us as strategic partners, so I would say that we have heard about the issue of territories in relation to Russia’s vision or Russia’s demands from [the US]. We see this as demands from the Russian Federation.”
Kyiv upbeat
Kyiv is under heavy pressure from Trump to make concessions to Russia to end Europe’s deadliest conflict since World War II, which began with Moscow’s 2022 invasion.
Zelenskyy has been holding talks in Berlin with US envoys Witkoff and Kushner President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, and European leaders.
But despite the declared differences, Kyiv maintained an upbeat tone in its public comments.
“Over the past two days, Ukrainian-US negotiations have been constructive and productive, with real progress achieved,” Rustem Umerov, secretary of the National Security and Defense Council, wrote on X after Monday’s talks.
Security guarantees
Ukraine said on Sunday it was willing to drop its ambition to join the NATO alliance in exchange for Western security guarantees.
In response, European leaders said they had agreed on Monday any decisions on potential Ukrainian territorial concessions to Russia could only be made once robust security guarantees were in place which should include a European-led multinational force.
The statement issued by 10 European leaders as well as EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen outlined what they considered necessary security guarantees and said Ukraine should be able to keep its armed forces at around 800,000 to be able to deter conflict.
Security guarantees would also include a US-led ceasefire monitoring mechanism to provide early warning of any future attack and respond to any breaches.
“Decisions on territory are for the people of Ukraine, once robust security guarantees are effectively in place,” the statement read.
Territory for security
Chancellor Merz said the US had made a substantial offer regarding security.
“What the US has placed on the table here in Berlin in terms of legal and material guarantees is really considerable,” Merz told a joint news conference with Zelenskyy. “A territorial settlement remains a key question,” he added.
Sources told Reuters, however, that those security guarantees would not be on the table forever.
One said Russia was open to Ukraine joining the European Union and that Trump wanted to prevent Russia from encroaching further westwards.
Defiant Ukraine
President Zelenskyy is walking a difficult line, under pressure from Trump to agree to a deal but also needing one acceptable to the Ukrainian people.
Underscoring the challenge he faces, a poll published on Monday showed three-quarters of Ukrainians reject major concessions in any peace deal.
The poll, by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS), found that 72% of Ukrainians were prepared for a deal that froze the current front line and contained some compromises.
However, 75% believed a Russia-friendly plan that included Ukraine ceding territory or capping the size of its army without receiving explicit security guarantees was “completely unacceptable.”
Just 21% of Ukrainians trust Washington, the poll showed, down from 41% last December. Trust in NATO also fell to 34% from 43% over the same period.
“If security guarantees are not unambiguous and binding... Ukrainians will not trust them, and this will affect the general readiness to approve the corresponding peace plan,” wrote KIIS executive director Anton Hrushetskyi.
Pivotal week
Monday’s talks come at the start of a pivotal week for Europe, with an EU summit on Thursday set to decide whether to underwrite a massive loan to Ukraine using frozen Russian central bank assets.
EU foreign ministers met in Brussels on Monday to agree on new sanctions targeting the Russian shadow fleet of oil tankers. However, the possibility of an 11th-hour hitch to deciding on an EU trade deal with Latin America threatens to undermine further their attempts to put on a display of unity and strength.
“The most important thing for us now is to ensure we can finance Ukraine,” said Denmark’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Lars Løkke Rasmussen.
“We must take a decision to ensure Ukraine is in a position to continue its freedom fight and to show the rest of the world that Europe is a strong player. Otherwise, we will give in to the picture painted by the American president, that Europe is weak.”
Finnish President Alexander Stubb, who has been closely involved in the Ukraine talks and met Zelenskyy on Monday, sounded a tentatively hopeful note, telling Dutch TV program Buitenhof: “...we’re probably closer to a peace agreement than we have been at any time during these four years.”
Stubb said the sides were working on three main documents: the framework of a 20-point peace plan, one relating to security guarantees for Kyiv, and a third on the reconstruction of Ukraine.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte and the leaders of Britain, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland and Sweden were among those in the German capital on Monday.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said before the talks that in addition to security guarantees for Ukraine, he would raise the issue of guarantees for countries on NATO’s eastern flank, including Poland, specifically in terms of planned US troop numbers.
“Our priority is to ensure that no provisions affecting Poland are made without us, and if provisions affecting us are established, they should strengthen our security,” Tusk said before leaving for Berlin.