Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that proposals negotiated with United States officials on a possible peace deal to end Russia’s war in Ukraine could be finalised within days.
The Ukrainian president said that once the documents are completed, American envoys would present them to the Kremlin.
After two days of talks in Berlin, US officials said on Monday that around 90 per cent of the contentious issues between Russia and Ukraine had been resolved. Despite the optimistic assessment, there is little clarity on whether the discussions are bringing the war closer to an end, particularly as Russia has not taken part in the talks.
Speaking in the early hours of Tuesday, Zelenskyy said the US Congress was expected to vote on security guarantees and that a final package of documents could be ready “today or tomorrow”.
He said the US would then consult with Russia, followed by high-level meetings that could take place as early as this weekend.
“We are counting on five documents,” Zelenskyy said in comments sent to journalists via WhatsApp. Some of them, he added, would include legally binding security guarantees approved by the US Congress.
He said the guarantees would “mirror article 5” of Nato, which treats an attack on one member as an attack on all.
US officials declined to give details of the proposed security package. They also did not explain what measures would be taken if Russia attempted to seize more Ukrainian territory after a deal was reached.
However, they confirmed that Washington had no plans to deploy US troops to Ukraine.
In a joint statement on Monday, leaders of the UK, France, Germany and eight other European countries said troops from a “coalition of the willing” could help rebuild Ukraine’s armed forces, secure its airspace and support maritime safety, including by operating inside Ukraine.
The statement stopped short of offering guarantees equivalent to Nato’s article 5. There is also little indication that Russia would accept such arrangements.
On Tuesday, the Kremlin said it had not seen the details of the security proposals. Russia’s deputy foreign minister, Sergei Ryabkov, said Moscow would not agree “under any circumstances” to troops from Nato countries operating in Ukraine.
Germany’s chancellor, Friedrich Merz, said on Monday that peace was closer than at any point since Russia’s full-scale invasion began.
Privately, however, European officials said the talks appeared focused on keeping the Trump White House committed to supporting Ukraine, rather than securing a lasting settlement between Kyiv and Moscow.
The main unresolved issue between Ukrainian and US negotiators remains territory.
Donald Trump has pushed for Ukraine to give up the parts of the Donbas region it still controls. Kyiv, by contrast, wants to freeze the front line at its current position.
“We are discussing the territorial issue. You know it is one of the key issues,” Zelenskyy said after the Berlin talks. “At this point, there is no consensus on it yet.”
The US negotiating team, led by Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, has proposed a compromise under which Ukraine would withdraw, Russia would halt further advances, and the area would become a demilitarised “free economic zone”.
Russia has suggested that such a zone could be controlled by police or national guard units rather than the military, implying continued Russian authority over the territory.
Zelenskyy rejected that interpretation.
“A ‘free economic zone’ does not mean under the control of Russia,” he said. “Neither de jure nor de facto will we recognise Donbas, its temporarily occupied part, as Russian. Absolutely.”
Zelenskyy has previously said that any compromise on territory would require approval by the Ukrainian public through a referendum.
The biggest obstacle may come when the proposals are presented to Vladimir Putin, who has shown no willingness to soften his demands.
“If Putin rejects everything, we will end up with exactly what we are experiencing on our plane right now, turbulence,” Zelenskyy said, speaking as he travelled from Berlin to the Netherlands for further meetings.
He added that if Russia rejected the proposals, Ukraine would expect the United States to increase sanctions pressure on Moscow and provide additional military support.
“I think that would be a fair request from us to the Americans,” he said.
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