Morning Chronicle - Zelensky, US envoys to push on with Ukraine talks in Berlin

As the conflict raged on, Zelensky's delegation huddled for over five hours on Sunday with Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff and the US president's son-in-law Jared Kushner.

Witkoff said afterwards on X that "a lot of progress was made, and they will meet again tomorrow morning".

Their meeting was held under tight security in the chancellery in Berlin, where Germany's leader Friedrich Merz was due to host a dinner on Monday with Zelensky, a group of European leaders and the NATO and EU chiefs.

Trump has pushed for an end to the almost four-year-old war, but Kyiv and its allies in Europe are trying to avoid a settlement that favours Russia.

Key questions remain on Ukrainian territorial concessions, future security guarantees for Kyiv, and whether Moscow would agree to any proposal hammered out by the Europeans and Americans.

"We want a lasting peace in Ukraine," Merz wrote on X. "Difficult questions lie ahead of us, but we are determined to move forward."

- 'It is a ceasefire' -

As Zelensky headed to Germany, he said he hoped Washington would back the idea of freezing the front line where it is, rather than Ukraine ceding the entire Donbas region as Moscow demands.

"The fairest possible option is to stay where we are," Zelensky told reporters.

"This is true because it is a ceasefire... I know that Russia does not view this positively, and I would like the Americans to support us on this issue."

The European Union, meanwhile, was scrambling to agree a plan on financing Ukraine in the coming years, with a proposal to use frozen Russian assets set for discussion at a leaders' meeting on Thursday.

"We are not there yet, and it is increasingly difficult, but we're doing the work and we still have some days," EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas told journalists on Monday morning.

- 'Very strong objections' -

Trump has been stepping up pressure on Ukraine to reach an agreement since revealing a plan last month to end the war that was criticised as echoing Moscow's demands.

Kyiv officials later said they had sent Washington a revised version. Witkoff said "in-depth discussions" were held on Sunday about that plan, "economic agendas and more".

Zelensky said on Sunday: "The most important thing is that the plan should be as fair as possible, first and foremost for Ukraine, because Russia started the war."

In Russia, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov cast strong doubt on the latest round of diplomacy.

"I think the contribution of both Ukrainians and Europeans to these documents is unlikely to be constructive, that's the problem," he said in a video message.

The latest push in the efforts to put an end to the war came as Kyiv reported new attacks on its territory, including a drone strike on a hospital over the weekend.

burs-fz/jxb/fg

F.Corbyn--MC-UK