President Trump says peace deal between Russia and Ukraine is ‘closer than ever’
WASHINGTON (NBC, KYMA) - President Donald Trump says a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine is "closer than ever" after new talks in Germany to broker a deal.
The proposed agreement is said to include NATO-like security guarantees for Ukraine to prevent further Russian attacks.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his country would abandon attempts to join NATO, while Russia said it would not oppose Ukraine joining the European Union.
Renewed hopes Tuesday morning for an end to Russia's war in Ukraine after a second day of U.S.-Ukraine talks in Berlin.
"I think we're closer now than we have been ever and we'll see what we can do," President Trump expressed.
In a major concession, Ukraine now says its willing to give up a long-sought push for NATO membership, though President Zelenskyy says that's only if the U.S. and European allies grant his country "NATO-like" security guarantees to guard against future Russian attacks.
Zelenskyy is, so far, resisting another major Russian demand: To give up territory.
Russian President Vladimir Putin wants Ukrainian forces to withdraw from parts of eastern Ukraine they still control as a key condition for peace.
U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner are working with Ukrainian and European officials to find compromise.
"We're making progress. It's more difficult than anybody could have thought," the president shared.
Ukrainian negotiators, under pressure to accept a U.S.-brokered peace deal that initially backed Moscow's demands, now say they're making 'real progress' toward an agreement that could finally bring peace.
European leaders released a statement from the Berlin talks saying they, and the U.S., committed to jointly providing Ukraine robust security guarantees, including a European-led and U.S.-backed multinational force that would operate inside Ukraine.
Russia has previously said it would not accept any troops from nato countries being based in Ukraine.
