White House: "Will Only Send Envoy When There Is Tangible Progress"
All Eyes on Potential Progress in Ukraine Peace Talks
Steve Witkoff, special envoy of U.S. President Donald Trump, will meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Berlin, Germany. There is growing attention on whether discussions regarding an end to the Russia-Ukraine war will make progress.
According to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) and other sources on December 13 (local time), Special Envoy Witkoff is scheduled to meet with President Zelensky and other European leaders in Berlin this weekend to discuss a potential peace agreement. Jared Kushner, Trump’s eldest son-in-law, will also attend the meeting.
The WSJ analyzed, "This meeting is a significant event as the White House is pushing for a ceasefire agreement within the year," adding, "The dispatch of Special Envoy Witkoff shows that efforts to narrow differences between Ukraine and the United States regarding the terms of an agreement are accelerating."
Previously, on December 11, White House spokesperson Caroline Levitt stated, "President Trump is frustrated with 'meetings for the sake of meetings,'" and emphasized, "He will only send an official representative when there is tangible progress in peace negotiations."
Other European leaders, including German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, plan to hold a summit on December 15 to reaffirm their support for Ukraine.
Earlier, on December 2, negotiations in Moscow between Special Envoy Witkoff and President Putin regarding a U.S.-Ukraine peace proposal ended without any substantial results.
It has been reported that the United States presented a 28-point peace proposal, which was widely seen as favoring Russia, and Ukraine responded with a 20-point counterproposal. During the upcoming Berlin meeting, issues such as territorial disputes and security guarantees for Ukraine are expected to be the main points of contention.
The United States has demanded that Ukraine hand over the entire eastern Donbas region, including strategically important areas currently occupied by Ukraine, to Russia as requested by Moscow.
As Ukraine strongly resisted this demand, the United States recently proposed a revised plan to designate the Donbas region currently held by Ukraine as a "free economic zone" or "demilitarized zone," which is a type of special administrative area. However, Ukraine has also reacted negatively to this proposal.
Additionally, it is expected that the issue of whether to officially recognize Crimea, which Russia forcibly annexed before the current war, as Russian territory will be discussed at the Berlin meeting.
The WSJ reported that on December 10, President Trump, in phone calls with the leaders of Germany, France, and the United Kingdom, urged European countries to join the pressure on Ukraine to accept peace terms that would involve significant territorial losses and an upper limit on the size of its military.
Along with the territorial dispute, other issues expected to be addressed at the "Berlin meeting" include establishing security measures to prevent another Russian invasion of Ukraine, whether to allow Ukraine to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and how to handle the large amount of Russian central bank assets frozen in Europe.
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
