Zelensky confirms meeting with US envoys, peace talks in coming days amid media reports
Editor's note: This is a developing story and is being updated.
President Volodymyr Zelensky on Dec. 13 announced he will meet "with envoys" of U.S. President Donald Trump in the coming days as discussions on the U.S.-proposed peace framework aimed at ending Russia's war continue.
"I will be meeting with envoys of President Trump, and there will also be meetings with our European partners, with many leaders, concerning the foundation of peace — a political agreement to end the war," he said.
The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) initially reported on Dec. 12 that Trump's Special Envoy Steve Witkoff will meet with Zelensky and European leaders in Brussels over the weekend.
The latest round of discussions comes amid growing U.S. pressure to advance negotiations and fresh accusations from Trump that Zelensky is the one refusing to agree to the American plan.
U.S. officials told WSJ that French President Emmanuel Macron, U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz will attend talks with Witkoff scheduled for Dec. 14-15.
The next round of discussions was initially expected to take place on Dec. 13. However, the date for a meeting involving Zelensky was not immediately clear.
The White House did not reply to the Kyiv Independent's request for comment.
Zelensky, on Dec. 13, confirmed Ukrainian officials will meet with U.S. and European officials in the coming days, announcing that many of the planned events will be hosted in Berlin, Germany.
Chief of the General Staff Andrii Hnatov and defense sector representatives will work on the details of security guarantees at the meetings, Zelensky said.
The planned meetings follow news that Kyiv and its European partners handed Washington their revisions to the U.S.-proposed peace framework, with territorial concessions dominating tensions between the parties.
Moscow has demanded that Ukraine leave the eastern Donbas region, including parts of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts, which Russia has failed to seize over more than a decade of war.
Speaking to reporters on Dec. 8, Zelensky said Ukraine's withdrawal from unoccupied parts of Donbas, the scope of security guarantees, and the status of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant remain the most sensitive elements under negotiation.
Zelensky added on Dec. 11 that any territorial decisions must be made by Ukrainians themselves, either through elections or a referendum.
In its search for consensus on its territorial sovereignty, Kyiv has pushed to involve European partners in negotiations after the continent found itself completely shut out of a process that directly affects its security.
The WSJ reported that European leaders had initially hoped to arrange a meeting with Trump in Europe this weekend after a tense phone call between the European leaders and Trump on Dec. 10 — in which the U.S. president reportedly pressured European leaders to press Zelensky to accept Washington's peace plan.
The White House has previously signaled impatience with the diplomatic process, with Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt telling reporters that Trump is "sick of meetings just for the sake of meeting."
Zelensky last directly spoke with Witkoff, as well as Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, in a phone call on Dec. 6 in a conversation he described as "long and substantive."
