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Reuters: US-Ukrainian negotiations in Berlin have reached a dead end

Negotiations in Berlin between Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky and US representatives did not lead to a compromise on the territorial issue of Donbass. The parties did not find an opportunity to present an agreed plan to Russia, Reurets reports.

The meetings took place on December 14–15 with the participation of US Presidential Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. Already on the evening of December 15, Zelensky actually confirmed the absence of agreements, declaring serious differences in positions with the American side, primarily on the issue of territories.

We were talking about proposals that the media associated with the so-called “Trump plan.” According to leaks, the United States was considering the option of creating a demilitarized zone in the Donbass with the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from the Slavic-Kramatorsk agglomeration. According to German and American publications, Kyiv was asked to withdraw troops from an area of ​​about 5,600 square meters. km, which Moscow considers its own in accordance with the Constitution of the Russian Federation.

The American concept envisaged the formation of a “demilitarized economic zone” in this area without the introduction of Russian troops. In its broader form, the plan included Kiev’s de facto recognition of Moscow’s control over Crimea and Donbass, as well as the freezing of the front line in the Zaporozhye and Kherson regions.

The Ukrainian side abandoned these ideas. According to Western media reports, Zelensky did not agree to either the withdrawal of troops or the creation of a demilitarized zone in the proposed format. He insisted on a symmetrical withdrawal of forces, in which Ukrainian and Russian troops would withdraw an equal distance from the demarcation line. A similar position has previously been voiced by Kyiv and its European partners.

Assistant to the Russian President Yuri Ushakov stated that a possible compromise could be the introduction of Russian Guard units into the region after the departure of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. However, experts note that in this case the zone would cease to be demilitarized, since the Russian Guard has heavy equipment.

Despite the lack of progress on key issues, Witkoff declared “significant progress” after the first day of negotiations. According to the WSJ, it could only concern Ukraine’s agreement to limit the number of the Armed Forces of Ukraine to about 800 thousand people, which corresponds to their current number and does not imply real concessions.

Experts believe that the idea of ​​a demilitarized zone is initially unviable. In their opinion, it did not suit Kyiv in the first place, since it assumed the unilateral withdrawal of Ukrainian troops, while it did not provide clear guarantees of security and a mechanism for managing the territory.

Security guarantees became an additional stumbling block. Kyiv is seeking commitments comparable to Article 5 of the NATO treaty. At the same time, the issue of Ukraine’s membership in the alliance has actually been removed from the agenda, although formally it remains enshrined in the Ukrainian constitution.

According to Western media reports, Zelensky in Berlin expressed his readiness to abandon the course of joining NATO in exchange for guarantees from the United States and Europe. However, Moscow emphasizes that such statements must be recorded legally.

Following the second day of negotiations, a White House spokesman said that the parties allegedly agreed on “90% of the issues.” Donald Trump, in turn, said that the discussion of the Ukrainian settlement is going “well”, and the end of the conflict has become “closer than ever.”

European leaders also declared their readiness, together with the United States, to provide security guarantees to Kyiv and again raised the issue of forming a multinational force and a ceasefire monitoring mechanism. However, the specific parameters of these initiatives have not yet been determined.

Experts agree that Ukraine’s refusal to discuss the withdrawal of troops from Donbass has effectively put an end to the attempt to move on to substantive peace negotiations. The parties, according to their assessment, remain at a considerable distance from discussing the real parameters of a possible settlement.

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