Overview
- Negotiations are stuck on the Donbass question, with U.S. envoys pushing a Ukrainian pullback and special economic or demilitarized arrangements, while Zelensky insists any territorial change must be approved by Ukrainian voters.
- Kremlin adviser Yuri Ushakov says a cease-fire would come only after Ukrainian forces withdraw from Donbass and warns Moscow may not accept the revised plan now circulating among Washington, Kyiv and European partners.
- European leaders insist on direct participation in the process; Germany’s Friedrich Merz rejects any deal decided over Europe’s head and points to consultations in Paris this weekend and a possible Berlin meeting early next week.
- The White House signals impatience with the pace of diplomacy, as President Trump conditions U.S. attendance at European meetings on the quality of the draft texts and says he will not attend sessions that lack a path to agreement.
- EU capitals advance a written procedure under Article 122 to lock in the use of frozen Russian central bank assets for Ukraine, with support reported as sufficient even as some governments register lingering doubts.