Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said this Sunday, December 14, that he has not yet received an official response from the US on the latest proposals for the 20-point peace plan, which provides for a ceasefire and requires commitments from Kiev and Moscow.
“No, I have not yet received a response from the United States. I have heard several messages through my negotiation team, but I have received all the signals and I will be ready for the dialogue that will begin now” in Berlin, said Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky, in a meeting with the press, according to public radio and television “Suspline”, cited by the EFE agency.
“Today we have a Ukrainian-American day in Berlin”, he explained, referring to the meetings in the German capital planned between the Ukrainian negotiating team led by the secretary of the National Security and Defense Council, Rustem Umérov, and the US envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner.
Zelensky indicated before leaving for Berlin that, in addition to meeting US President Donald Trump’s envoys, he will meet separately with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and probably, in the afternoon, “with some other European leaders”.
In the opinion of the Ukrainian president, Berlin, where a summit will take place this Monday, will be an important negotiating platform, which provides for a ceasefire, which should change the security situation on the ground.
Zelensky also responded to Trump’s statements, who stated that the Ukrainian president “is the only one who doesn’t like the American peace plan”, stating that the final version of this document will not be to everyone’s liking.
“Of course, there are many compromises in one or another format of the plan. We sent the latest comments and changes to the United States. The most important thing is that the plan is fairer, above all for Ukraine, because Russia started the war”he emphasized.
“And, most importantly, that it is effective, so that the plan is not really just a piece of paper, but an important step towards ending the war. And, What is even more important is that the plan is such that, after its signing, Russia does not have the opportunity to launch another, a third aggression against the Ukrainian people.”he added, referring to the armed conflict in Donbass, which began in 2014, and the war launched by the Kremlin in 2022.
In Zelensky’s opinion, if the US puts pressure on Moscow, it will be possible to force Russian President Vladimir Putin to make concessions.
“We do not have a direct dialogue with the Russian side. And in the dialogue [da Ucrânia] with the American side, they, if I may say so, represent the Russian side, because they talk about their signs, demands, steps, willingness or lack of willingness”, he explained.
According to Zelensky, Ukraine has already made a concession in the security guarantees it negotiates with the USA, because it considers that the “real” guarantee would be the country’s membership in NATO, but, aware of the rejection of a possible accession to the Alliance by Washington and “some” European countries, Kiev will accept guarantees “of the type of article 5 of the NATO Treaty” of mutual defense by the United States and European colleagues, as well as other G7 countries.