December 15, 2025
What will Zelenskyy do in Berlin on Monday?
In addition to numerous meetings with European leaders, Zelenskyy is also set to continue talks with US special envoy Steve Witkoff on how to end the war against Russia.
Key points of Ukrainian President Zelenskyy’s meetings in Berlin on Monday
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1 p.m.: Zelenskyy will meet with German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier at Bellevue Palace, the German head of state’s official residence, and sign an official guest book
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2:15 p.m.: Bundestag President Julia Klöckner to welcome Zelenskyy to the German parliament for meetings with German lawmakers#
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3:50 p.m.: German Chancellor Merz to meet Zelenskyy at the German-Ukrainian Economic Forum
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5:15 p.m.: Merz and Zelenskyy will hold a press conference followed by private talks
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From 6:30 p.m.: Arrival at the Chancellery of other European leaders, including British PM Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, and the heads of the European Commission, European Council and NATO military alliance
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Followed by a group photo and a closed-door meeting.
https://p.dw.com/p/55Ltn
December 15, 2025
Reparations loan discussions ‘increasingly difficult,’ Kallas says
Talks on securing financial support for Ukraine in the coming years are proving difficult, European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said Monday.
“The most credible option is the reparations loan, and this is what we are working on,” she said ahead of a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels.
“We are not there yet and it is increasingly difficult, but we’re doing the work,” she said.
Monday’s talks are the latest in a long-running discussion over how Russian assets frozen in Europe could be used to fund Ukraine’s defense.
Representatives from EU countries passed the first hurdle in making the cash available by agreeing Friday by a large majority to indefinitely freeze the approximately €210 billion ($246 billion) in Russian state assets in the EU.
A reparations loan requires a majority vote, Kallas said, but she also called on EU members to respect concerns from Belgium, which as the country where much of the assets are held has resisted the plan fearing exposure to legal and financial risks.
A reparations loan agreement would send “a clear signal that if you do all this damage to another country, you have to pay for the reparation,” Kallas said.
https://p.dw.com/p/55Lpu
December 15, 2025
Ukraine ceasefire talks to continue in Berlin
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz will host Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy with French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer as well as several leaders of Ukraine’s allies in Berlin on Monday.
The latest set of talks comes after Zelenskyy on Sunday met with US special envoy Steve Witkoff and US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner at the German Chancellery.
Key points in all the talks remain potential territorial concessions on the part of Ukraine, especially in the eastern Donbas region, where Russian forces occupy a significant amount of territory, the future size of the Ukrainian military and how Kyiv’s allies can provide security guarantees to prevent another war.
Witkoff said “a lot of progress was made” during Sunday’s discussions.
Zelenskyy said last week that Ukraine would drop its bid to join the NATO military alliance if the US and other Western nations provided security guarantees similar to those offered to NATO members.
But Ukraine continued to reject a US push for ceding territory to Russia.
Russian President Vladimir Putin wants Ukraine to withdraw from the part of the Donetsk region still under its control among the key conditions for peace.
Zelenskyy has called for a ceasefire along the current frontlines.
https://p.dw.com/p/55LiU
Welcome to our coverage
Good morning, and thanks for joining us here in Germany as talks in Berlin continue to search for the terms of a ceasefire that would put an end to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Today, we’re expecting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to address allies in the German capital, attend a German-Ukrainian economic forum with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and have a private discussion with the German leader later this evening.
Talks are also continuing on how to use frozen Russian assets in Europe to fund Ukraine’s defense.
Stay with us as we track developments at the Berlin talks and from the conflict in Ukraine throughout the day.
https://p.dw.com/p/55Lhi
