Zelensky hails ‘real progress’ in Berlin talks with Trump envoys

BERLIN: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Monday that talks in Berlin with US President Donald Trump’s envoys on ending the war with Russia were “not easy” but brought “real progress” on the question of security guarantees. Zelensky met for a second day with Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and the president’s son-in-law Jared Kushner for talks aimed at ending the war that started with Russia’s 2022 full-scale invasion, building on a proposal initially put forward by Trump. He hailed new security guarantees offered by Washington but also said differences remained on the question of what territories Ukraine would have to cede to battlefield enemy Russia. “There has been sufficient dialogue on the territory, and I think that, frankly speaking, we still have different positions,” Zelensky told reporters. An upbeat German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said the talks had created the “chance for a real peace process” and praised the US for offering “substantial” security guarantees. From Washington, Trump said he would hold a phone call later Monday with Zelensky and a group of European leaders set to meet in Berlin, among them UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron.