NATO General Secretary Mark Rutte and German Chancellor Frederich Merz hold a press conference as a meeting in Paris this weekend (13th) and Berlin on Monday (15th) are scheduled to finalize EU terms for a negotiated Ukraine-Russia ceasefire.
Within the remarks Merz notes a preliminary document outlining possible land concessions has recently been sent to the Trump administration, and that set of documents likely includes an outline for ‘security guarantees’ assembled by the coalition of the willing (Germany, France and UK). “It mainly concerns the question of what territorial concessions Ukraine is prepared to make,” Mr Merz said. He stressed that any decision on land concessions was up to the Ukrainian government and its people.
Chancellor Merz said, “If we continue as imagined, there will be talks with the US administration over the weekend and there might be a meeting at the beginning of next week in Berlin. Whether the US administration will take part in the meeting depends on the papers we are working on [at present].”
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Speaking to an audience together with NATO Secretary Rutte, German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul, emphasized the 28-point outline originally created by Trump, Rubio, Witkoff and Ukraine/Russia officials was dead. “As the 28-point plan was mentioned, it is no longer existing,” Wadephul said. “We had some influence on it” he remarked, seemingly bragging about how Europe destroyed the U.S plan.
Another report on Thursday said Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni urged Volodymyr Zelensky to accept “painful concessions” for a peace deal. According to the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, tensions surfaced between the two leaders as Ms Meloni pressed Mr Zelensky to accede to US demands. “There is sufficient evidence indicating that not everything went smoothly and that some differences were clearly expressed for the first time by both parties,” the newspaper stated.
Meanwhile back in Washington, DC, President Trump delivered remarks on the Ukraine-EU negotiations yesterday, noting his discussions with the European team and the potential for Trump’s emissaries to attend either the Paris or Berlin meeting if something productive can be gained from it.
According to The Telegraph, […] “In Europe, the focus will shift over the weekend to Paris, where the details of the latest peace proposal are expected to be ironed out.
Ukraine is also keen to prevent talks over territorial concessions from happening without parallel discussions on the shape of the security guarantees the US could offer to deter a future Russian invasion.
Officials close to the negotiations have described “incredible pressure” by Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to agree to a unilateral withdrawal from the Donbas before any other agreements are struck.
On Thursday, Russia said it had made fresh gains on the front line in Ukraine, where Putin is taking territory slowly and at a heavy cost to his troops.” {source}
