BERLIN – On Sunday, U.S. representatives will arrive in Berlin to engage in another round of discussions aimed at brokering a peace agreement to halt the ongoing conflict.

President Donald Trump has dispatched his special envoy, Steve Witkoff, along with his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, to participate in a series of meetings scheduled for Sunday and Monday.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that officials from Ukraine, the U.S., and Europe will convene in Berlin for a series of discussions over the coming days.

“Crucially, I will engage with President Trump’s envoys, and there will also be sessions with our European allies, involving numerous leaders, to establish the groundwork for peace—a political resolution to conclude the war,” Zelenskyy conveyed in a national address late Saturday.

For several months, Washington has been attempting to reconcile the various demands from each side, as Trump urges a rapid conclusion to the conflict with Russia, growing increasingly impatient with the delays. The quest for potential compromises has encountered significant hurdles, such as the control of Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, predominantly held by Russian forces, and the provision of security assurances for Ukraine.

“The chance is considerable at this moment, and it matters for our every city, for our every Ukrainian community,” Zelenskyy said. “We are working to ensure that peace for Ukraine is dignified, and to secure a guarantee — a guarantee, above all — that Russia will not return to Ukraine for a third invasion.”

Tough obstacles remain

Russian President Vladimir Putin has demanded that Ukraine withdraw its forces from the part of the Donetsk region still under its control and abandon its bid to join NATO among the key conditions for peace — demands Kyiv has rejected.

Putin’s foreign affairs adviser Yuri Ushakov told the business daily Kommersant that Russian police and national guard troops would stay in parts of eastern Ukraine’s Donbas even if they become a demilitarized zone under a prospective peace plan — a demand likely to be rejected by Ukraine as U.S.-led negotiations drag on.

Ushakov warned that a search for compromise could take a long time, noting that the U.S. proposals that took into account Russian demands had been “worsened” by alterations proposed by Ukraine and its European allies.

“We don’t know what changes they are making, but clearly they aren’t for the better,” Ushakov said, adding: “We will strongly insist on our considerations.”

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who has spearheaded European efforts to support Ukraine alongside French President Emmanuel Macron and U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, said Saturday that “the decades of the ‘Pax Americana’ are largely over for us in Europe and for us in Germany as well.”

He warned that Putin’s aim is “a fundamental change to the borders in Europe, the restoration of the old Soviet Union within its borders.” “If Ukraine falls, he won’t stop,” Merz warned on Saturday during a party conference in Munich.

Putin has denied plans to restore the Soviet Union or attack any European allies.

Russia and Ukraine exchange aerial attacks

As peace efforts continued, Russia and Ukraine exchanged another round of aerial attacks.

Ukraine’s air force said overnight Russia launched ballistic missiles and 138 attack drones at Ukraine. In its daily report, the air force said 110 had been intercepted or downed but missile and drone hits were recorded at six locations.

Zelenskyy said Sunday that hundreds of thousands of families were still without power in the south, east and north-east regions and work was continuing to restore electricity, heat and water to multiple regions following a large-scale attack the previous night.

The Ukrainian president said that in the past week, Russia had launched over 1,500 strike drones, nearly 900 guided aerial bombs and 46 missiles of various types at Ukraine.

“Ukraine needs peace on decent terms, and we are ready to work as constructively as possible. These days will be filled with diplomacy. It’s very important that it brings results,” Zelenskyy said.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said that air defenses downed 235 Ukrainian drones late Saturday and early Sunday.

In the Belgorod region, a drone injured a man and set his house ablaze in the village of Yasnye Zori, regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said.

Ukrainian drones struck an oil depot in Uryupinsk in the Volgograd region, triggering a fire, according to the regional governor, Andrei Bocharov.

In the Krasnodar region, the Ukrainian drones attacked the town of Afipsky, where an oil refinery is located. The authorities said that explosions shattered windows in residential buildings but didn’t report any damage to the refinery.

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Ciobanu reported from Warsaw, Poland.