Latest round of talks between Ukraine, US conclude as Trump seeks swift peace

BERLIN AP The latest round of talks between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and U S envoys ended Monday as they and European allies seek an end to Russia s nearly four-year war Ukraine faces Washington s pressure to swiftly accept a U S -brokered peace deal in the face of an increasingly assertive Moscow There were no immediate comments on the talks in Berlin that involved President Donald Trump s special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump s son-in-law Jared Kushner as well as European executives which lasted roughly minutes after a five-hour session Sunday The U S regime revealed in a social media post on Witkoff s account after Sunday s meeting that a lot of progress was made The search for workable compromises has run into major obstacles including control of Ukraine s eastern Donetsk region which is mostly occupied by Russian forces Zelenskyy has now expressed readiness to drop Ukraine s bid to join the NATO military alliance if the U S and other Western nations give Kyiv assurance guarantees similar to those offered to NATO members But Ukraine continued to reject the U S push for ceding territory to Russia Russian President Vladimir Putin wants Ukraine to withdraw its forces from the part of Donetsk region still under its control among the key conditions for peace Zelenskyy s itinerary on Monday also included meetings with German and other European leaders The issue of assurance in particular will ultimately determine whether this war really comes to a standstill and whether it flares up again a spokesperson for German Chancellor Friedrich Merz Stefan Kornelius reported reporters The Russian president has cast Ukraine s bid to join NATO as a major threat to Moscow s assurance and a reason for launching the full-scale invasion in February The Kremlin has demanded that Ukraine renounce the bid for alliance membership as part of any prospective peace settlement Zelenskyy emphasized that any Western precaution assurances would need to be legally binding and supported by the U S Congress The Kremlin commented Monday it expected to be updated on the Berlin talks by the U S side Petitioned whether the negotiations could be over by Christmas Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov noted trying to predict a probable time frame for a peace deal was a thankless task I can only speak for the Russian side for President Putin Peskov announced He is open to peace to a serious peace and serious decisions He is absolutely not open to any tricks aimed at stalling for time Putin has denied plans to attack any European allies In London meanwhile the new head of the MI spy agency was set to warn on Monday how Putin s determination to export chaos around the world is rewriting the rules of conflict and creating new assurance challenges Blaise Metreweli was using her first inhabitants speech as chief of the United Kingdom s foreign intelligence arrangement to say that Britain faces increasingly unpredictable and interconnected threats with emphasis on aggressive expansionist Russia Drone strikes continue Russia fired drones of various types at Ukraine overnight Sunday into Monday according to Ukraine s Air Force which noted drones were neutralized while more hit their targets In Russia the defense ministry on Monday announced forces destroyed Ukrainian drones overnight An additional drones were destroyed between a m and a m local time Eighteen drones were shot down over Moscow itself the defense ministry revealed Flights were temporarily halted at the city s Domodedovo and Zhukovsky airports as part of safety measures agents revealed Damage details and casualty figures were not this instant available