U.S. envoys arrived in Berlin Sunday for another round of negotiations aimed at securing a deal to end the war in Ukraine. President Donald Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner were photographed in central Berlin by a dpa news agency photographer.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukrainian, U.S. and European officials will hold a series of meetings in the city in coming days. He said he will meet with envoys representing President Trump and with European partners and leaders to discuss the framework for a political agreement to end the war.
Washington has spent months trying to reconcile competing demands as President Trump presses for a swift resolution and grows frustrated by delays. Negotiators face major sticking points: control of parts of eastern Donetsk, now largely held by Russian forces, and the nature of security guarantees for Ukraine.
Zelenskyy emphasized the need for a dignified peace and a binding guarantee that Russia would not launch another invasion. He said the talks are important for every Ukrainian community and for preserving the country’s sovereignty.
Key obstacles remain. Russian President Vladimir Putin has insisted that Ukraine withdraw its forces from the portions of Donetsk under Kyiv’s control and abandon plans to join NATO — terms Kyiv rejects. Putin’s foreign affairs adviser Yuri Ushakov told Kommersant that Russian police and national guard units would remain in parts of the Donbas even if a demilitarized zone were created, a condition Ukraine is unlikely to accept. Ushakov also warned that finding a compromise could be lengthy, saying Moscow believed U.S. proposals that reflected Russian concerns had been weakened by changes suggested by Ukraine and European partners.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who has led European support for Ukraine alongside French President Emmanuel Macron and U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, said the era of unquestioned U.S. security dominance in Europe is largely over and warned that Putin seeks a fundamental redraw of borders. Putin has denied plans to rebuild the Soviet Union or to attack NATO allies.
Fighting continued even as diplomacy proceeded. Ukraine’s air force said Russia launched ballistic missiles and 138 attack drones overnight, with about 110 intercepted or shot down, though missiles and drones struck six locations. Zelenskyy reported hundreds of thousands of families without power across southern, eastern and northeastern regions and said crews were working to restore electricity, heat and water following the large-scale assault. He added that in the past week Russia had used more than 1,500 strike drones, nearly 900 guided aerial bombs and dozens of missiles.
Russia’s Defense Ministry, for its part, said air defenses had shot down 235 Ukrainian drones late Saturday and early Sunday. Regional officials reported damage on both sides of the border: in Russia’s Belgorod region a drone injured a man and set his house on fire; an attack on an oil depot in Uryupinsk in the Volgograd region triggered a blaze; and in the Krasnodar region explosions shattered windows in the town of Afipsky near an oil refinery, which authorities said was not damaged.