BERLIN – On Monday, European leaders aim to solidify their backing for Ukraine amidst growing pressure from Washington to swiftly embrace a peace agreement crafted by the U.S.
Following discussions in Berlin on Sunday between U.S. representatives and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, both Ukrainian and European officials intend to persist in a series of meetings. These efforts are directed toward ensuring the continent’s peace and security against a backdrop of an increasingly assertive Russia.
During Sunday’s meeting, Zelenskyy engaged with U.S. President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner at the German federal chancellery. Their objective was to find a resolution to the conflict that has dragged on for nearly four years.
For months, Washington has been attempting to balance the demands of all parties involved as President Trump pushes for a quick resolution to Russia’s conflict. However, efforts to discover potential compromises have faced significant hurdles, particularly concerning Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, which is largely under Russian occupation.
On Sunday, Zelenskyy expressed a willingness to abandon Ukraine’s ambition to join NATO if the U.S. and other Western countries provide Kyiv with security assurances akin to those given to NATO members. Nonetheless, Ukraine remains firm in its refusal to consider the U.S. suggestion of conceding territory to Russia.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has stipulated that Ukraine must withdraw its forces from the areas of the Donetsk region that remain under Ukrainian control as one of the key conditions for achieving peace.
The Russian president also has cast Ukraine’s bid to join NATO as a major threat to Moscow’s security and a reason for launching the full-scale invasion in February 2022. The Kremlin has demanded that Ukraine renounce the bid for alliance membership as part of any prospective peace settlement.
Zelenskyy emphasized that any Western security assurances would need to be legally binding and supported by the U.S. Congress.
‘Pax Americana’ is over
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who has spearheaded European efforts to support Ukraine alongside French President Emmanuel Macron and U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, said Saturday that “the decades of the ‘Pax Americana’ are largely over for us in Europe and for us in Germany as well.”
He warned that Putin’s aim is “a fundamental change to the borders in Europe, the restoration of the old Soviet Union within its borders.”
“If Ukraine falls, he won’t stop,” Merz warned during a party conference in Munich.
Macron, meanwhile, vowed Sunday on social platform X that “France is, and will remain, at Ukraine’s side to build a robust and lasting peace — one that can guarantee Ukraine’s security and sovereignty, and that of Europe, over the long term.”
Putin has denied plans to attack any European allies.
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