U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff to hold talks with Zelenskyy and European leaders in Berlin

United States special envoy Steve Witkoff is on his way to Berlin, Germany, to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European leaders for peace negotiations aimed at ending the war in Ukraine, a senior White House official told NBC News.

Witkoff has spearheaded talks with Ukraine and Russia since President Donald Trump took office in January, but multiple high-level meetings between the U.S. and the two warring nations have yet to produce results as disagreements remain over the content of a peace plan.

Trump, who has pushed for a deal to be in place by Christmas, has signaled that his patience is running thin.

European leaders have focused on how to support Ukraine in the event of a peace deal, with talks ongoing over security guarantees and funding. But long-time American allies in Europe have struggled to balance the mounting pressure from Washington with their reluctance to give in to Russia’s hard-line demands.

Zelenskyy said Ukraine submitted a 20-point plan to the U.S. on Wednesday, as it sought to balance out a 28-point U.S.-backed plan whose original version was seen as too favorable to Moscow.

Ukraine’s proposal included separate documents on security guarantees, to prevent Russia from attacking again, and on rebuilding Ukraine’s war-hit cities.

The issue of ceding territory remains a major sticking point in negotiations, and Russian President Vladimir Putin last week reiterated his goal to take eastern Ukraine “by force” unless his unwavering demands are met.

Zelenskyy said there was still no common understanding on the land issue and that Ukrainians should vote on any territorial concessions in a referendum.

Russia has continued its bombardment of Ukraine as talks continue. Ukraine’s southern port city of Odesa and the surrounding region suffered major blackouts on Saturday after a large overnight Russian attack on the power grid across the country.

Zelenskyy said in a post on X: “It is important that everyone now sees what Russia is doing – every step they take in terror against our people, all their attacks, for this is clearly not about ending the war. They still aim to destroy our state and inflict maximum pain on our people.”

Witkoff’s visit to Berlin comes as the European Union agreed Friday to indefinitely freeze Russian assets worth 210 billion euros ($246 billion) held in Europe, as it considers using those assets to fund Ukraine’s war effort.

The indefinite freeze appears to be a bid to convince Belgium, where much of that money is held at Euroclear, to agree to plans that would loan a large chunk of the money to Ukraine to cover its military and civilian budget needs in 2026 and 2027.

Belgium opposed the plan because it fears legal retaliation by Russia, which has condemned the freezing of its assets as theft, but the agreement includes a guarantee that Belgium would not be left alone to foot the bill should a potential Russian lawsuit prove successful.

Zelenskyy said Thursday that negotiators are wrestling with the question of territorial possession in U.S.-led peace talks on ending the war with Russia, including the future of Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region and the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, one of the world’s 10 biggest atomic plants.

Speaking to reporters in Kyiv on Friday, Zelenskyy said the U.S. is offering as a compromise to create a “free economic zone” in the Ukraine-controlled parts of the eastern Donbas which Russia has demanded that Ukraine cede.

Among the issues Zelenskyy shared were that Russia wants to incorporate the entire Donbas, which Ukraine opposes. He also said the U.S. proposed turning Donbas into a “free economic zone.” That would mean Ukrainian forces withdraw from Donbas and Russia refrains from entering the parts of Donbas it does not currently occupy.

“They see it as Ukrainian troops withdrawing from the Donetsk region, and the compromise is supposedly that Russian troops will not enter this part of Donetsk region. They do not know who will govern this territory,” he said, adding that Russia is referring to it as a “demilitarized zone.”

NATO chief Mark Rutte struck a drastic note Thursday as he urged allies to step up defense efforts. “We are Russia’s next target,” he said, warning of a conflict that could be on “the scale of war our grandparents and great-grandparents endured.”