"The peace plan ends in a truce". What Zelenskyy said before Berlin

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that at the end of the United States' peace plan, a ceasefire in the Russian war against Ukraine is envisaged. The Head of State said this during a conversation with the media before the talks, which began in Berlin on the evening of December 14.

He was asked whether Kyiv was considering reaching an "interim but effective solution at this summit thatcan immediately change the security situation on the ground."

Zelenskyy emphasized the importance of the meetings in Berlin on December 14-15, which will be attended by both American and European representatives: "This is the format of this union... And believe me, we have done a lot to ensure that these parties meet together."

"Can this change the security situation on the ground? Certainly, because we are considering a 20-point framework plan, which includes a ceasefire at the end. The ceasefire will certainly change the security situation on the ground," the president explained.

Earlier, he said that after the talks with Russia, the United States wants a full ceasefire to come only after signing of the framework agreement.

Zelenskyy was also asked whether Kyiv's position has changed that no format can prevent a repeat of the Russian war unless there is a clear timeframe for restoring Ukraine's territorial integrity and legally binding security guarantees.

The president replied that today we are talking "not about honesty, but about strength."

"And, unfortunately, this time requires respect only for force, not for values. Because if we are talking about honesty and values, about respect for international law, the Russians should have been condemned from the very beginning, more than 10 years ago, for invading the sovereign land of Ukraine. This did not happen, it was only in words," the head of state explained.

At the same time, the president confirmed that Kyiv and Washington are discussing providing Ukraine with security guarantees similar to NATO Article 5 on collective security.

Zelenskyy emphasized that Ukraine now wants to ensure that the war does not recur after the ceasefire, so legally binding guarantees are required, not "Budapest Memorandum".

At 17:21 Kyiv time, the head of state reported about the start of the meeting in Berlin. The American side was represented by special envoy of the US president Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Donald Trump Jared Kushner, as well as supreme allied commander Europe and head of U.S. European Command Alexus Grynkewich.

The German DPA agency, citing information from government circles, writes that the country's chancellor Friedrich Merz left the talks after a brief greeting.

Instead, Günter Sautter, Merz's foreign and security policy advisor, remained in the role of moderator, reports Handelsblatt newspaper.

• Also before the Berlin summit, Zelenskyy said that as part of the peace plan, the United States was proposing that the Ukrainian Armed Forces withdraw from the Ukrainian Donbas and that Russia would not enter these territories. The president called this option unfair, asking why Russia would also not to withdraw their troops.