Overview
- US special envoy Steve Witkoff will meet Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European leaders in Berlin this weekend, with multiple reports saying Jared Kushner will also attend.
- Chancellor Friedrich Merz will host Zelenskyy on Monday for talks followed by a wider gathering that is expected to include Emmanuel Macron, Keir Starmer, and EU and NATO chiefs.
- Washington’s proposal, revised after Ukrainian and European objections, still asks Kyiv to consider significant concessions, including a Donetsk “free economic zone,” according to Zelenskyy.
- EU ministers approved a measure to permanently block the return of frozen Russian central bank assets, with roughly €210 billion at stake, about €185 billion of it in Belgium, as legal and political talks on using the funds for Ukraine continue.
- Europe’s push comes as the new US National Security Strategy recasts the EU as a competing power, with a ZDF poll finding 84% in Germany doubt US reliability and senior figures urging faster European military strengthening.