Europe Asia News

As US President Donald Trump’s efforts to end the war have stalled, Washington has increased pressure on Ukraine to make concessions that would bring the conflict to an end. Plans remain unclear, but if the meeting takes place this weekend, the administration will present the outcomes of the latest talks to Russian officials, who have made little change to their demands.

According to one source close to the matter, the Russian delegation is expected to include Kirill Dmitriev, head of Russia’s sovereign wealth fund. Both sources chose to remain anonymous while discussing plans for subsequent rounds of sensitive negotiations. The US side is expected to be represented by Trump administration special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.

Witkoff and Kushner held lengthy talks earlier this week in Berlin with Ukrainian and European officials, reaching agreements on the US position regarding security guarantees for Kyiv, territorial concessions and other issues. Washington continues to pressure Kyiv to end the war. The US has offered a mutual defense commitment similar to that given to NATO members, while Ukraine has dropped its demand for immediate accession to the transatlantic alliance.

Trump administration officials believe Russia will accept Western security guarantees and Ukraine’s EU membership in a final agreement. However, Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday showed no sign of backing away from his desire to almost completely end Ukraine’s existence as a sovereign state.