Americans invited to highly important talks on peace plan in Berlin, Merz says
Friedrich Merz (Photo: FILIP SINGER / EPA)

Germany invites the United States to join an extremely important meeting in Berlin at the beginning of the third week of December on a possible truce in the Russian war against Ukraine. This was stated by German chancellor Friedrich Merz after talks with the NATO secretary general Mark Rutte on December 11, reports Politico.

A media event that is expected to bring together key European leaders and the president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, aimed at coordinating positions on the rapidly developing peace efforts, the media reports.

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Merz said that the United States has been invited to the meeting, but its participation will "very much depend" on the progress in the weekend's negotiations (December 13-14) between the UK, France and Germany (E3 group), Ukraine and the United States on the main documents.

This includes a European proposal for potential territorial arrangements, which was sent to Washington only on the evening of December 10, Politico reports.

"It [the proposal] the question of what territorial concessions Ukraine is prepared to make," the German chancellor explained.

European leaders are rushing to prove their importance in this process amid fears that Washington's proposals are tilted in favor of Russia and make demands on Ukraine that Zelenskyy cannot accept.

Merz emphasized that only the president and the society of Ukraine can determine what compromises are possible. He added that any ceasefire must be accompanied by reliable guarantees to avoid another Russian attack.

"No peace must be made without us being involved," the politician said, stating that Europe's security interests should be included in any agreement.

He also sought to portray Europe as a constructive partner rather than a hindrance in the negotiations, saying that he believed Trump was "ready to move down this path with us" after their phone call.

  • on December 10, Merz, British prime minister Starmer, and French president Macron had another call with the US leader. Afterward, Trump said that they "discussed Ukraine in pretty strong words".
  • The US president indicated that the Europeans had offered to hold a meeting in Europe this weekend with both the Americans and Zelenskyy. However, he stressed that the United States would decide whether to participate "depending on what they [the Europeans] come back with."
  • On the evening of the same day, unnamed Ukrainian and American officials told Axios that Kyiv had provided the United States with its point-by-point answer on the latest draft of the US peace plan