Witkoff to meet Zelensky, EU leaders for Ukraine talks

December 14, 2025 00:00:00

A man looks out of a broken window of a damaged building following an air Russian attack in Odesa on Saturday — AFP

NEW YORK, Dec 13 (BBC/AFP/AP): US President Donald Trump's overseas envoy will travel to Germany this weekend to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and European leaders for the latest round of high-level talks on ending the war.

Steve Witkoff, who has been leading White House attempts to mediate between Ukraine and Russia, will discuss the latest version of the proposed peace agreement in Berlin.

The Trump administration is pushing for a deal to be in place by Christmas and has held several rounds of talks with Ukrainian and Russian representatives in recent weeks, though there has been little sign a breakthrough is imminent.

It has not yet been confirmed which European leaders will attend the Berlin talks.

The Wall Street Journal, which first reported details of the meeting, said UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz would all take part.

Russia hits Ukraine facilities

with hypersonic missiles

Russia on Saturday said it hit Ukrainian industrial and energy facilities overnight with hypersonic missiles, in what it called a retaliation attack for Ukrainian strikes on "civilian targets" in Russia.

Moscow's defence ministry said it carried out a "massive strike" on Ukraine's army and energy facilities using weapons including Kinzhal hypersonic missiles as a "response to Ukraine's terrorist attacks on civilian targets in Russia".

EU freezes Russian assets

indefinitely to prevent

veto by Hungary, Slovakia

The European Union on Friday moved to freeze Russian assets in Europe indefinitely, blocking any attempt by Hungary and Slovakia to prevent their use in support of Ukraine.

Invoking a special economic emergency mechanism, the EU decided that the assets will remain immobilized until Russia ends its war against Ukraine and pays compensation for the damage caused during nearly four years of conflict. The decision bypasses the usual six-month renewal of sanctions, which requires unanimous approval from all 27 EU member states.