French President Emmanuel Macron has not yet decided whether he will travel to Berlin to meet with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky to discuss the settlement of the conflict in Ukraine, given the uncertainty over the provision of security guarantees by Washington to Kiev, AFP reported, citing the Elysee Palace.
“The president still has to make a decision“, the agency quoted an unnamed adviser to the French president.
During a closed briefing, he explained to media representatives the positions of Europe and Ukraine on a possible settlement of the Ukrainian conflict, noting that the Europeans are demanding security guarantees from the United States for Ukraine before starting substantive negotiations on territorial questions.
He said that this was the reason for the “difficult“ nature of the phone calls held between Macron, Merz and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer with President Donald Trump on December 10. In particular, the adviser spoke of “differences“ on the issue of “organizing negotiations in the coming days and weeks“.
Earlier, the Wall Street Journal reported that US presidential envoy Steve Witkoff would meet with Volodymyr Zelensky and European leaders in Berlin on Monday to discuss an agreement on Ukraine.
Sources of the publication specified that these would be French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and their German host - Chancellor Friedrich Merz.