Europe Sets Conditions For Peace In Ukraine As US Agrees Security Guarantees.

Berlin; December 2025: European leaders have set conditions for peace in Ukraine following a meeting in Berlin. Any deal with Russia will have to allow Kyiv to maintain its armed forces at 8,00,000 troops, which would involve a European-led multinational force operating inside Ukraine, and support the country joining the EU.

Meanwhile, US officials have reportedly offered unspecified security guarantees to Ukraine. Leaders from 10 countries and the EU attended the Berlin meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday night, including Sir Keir Starmer, who earlier told MPs the UK “cannot let up” its efforts to bring about peace.

In a joint statement, Sir Keir Starmer, and other leaders said they and the US had “committed to work together to provide robust security guarantees” and economic support “in the context” of a peace deal.

And they set out six commitments to be included in any deal, including the size of Ukraine’s armed forces and the involvement of Europe and the US.

A limit of 800,000 personnel is a significant increase on an earlier draft of the US-backed plan, which had suggested 600,000, and according to President Zelensky, is only slightly below the current size of the Ukrainian military. The conditions also included a role for the multinational force Ukraine currently being developed by the coalition of the willing led by Starmer and France’s Emmanuel Macron, along with a US-backed ceasefire monitoring mechanism and a binding commitment to come to Ukraine’s aid if Russia attacks again. Other conditions included an agreement to invest in Ukraine’s economic future, taking into account the need for Russia to provide compensation, and strong support for Ukraine’s accession to the EU.

While the joint statement included a role for NATO in “providing robust deterrence”, the conditions did not include a reference to Ukraine joining the alliance, something that Moscow is strongly opposed to.

The leaders said it was “now incumbent upon Russia to show willingness to work towards a lasting peace” by signing up to the plan and agreeing to a ceasefire.

Monday’s meeting in Berlin follows almost a year of discussions about a peace deal following Donald Trump’s promise to end the war on his first day in office in January. Russia has so far resisted calls for a ceasefire and is strongly opposed to any deal that sees NATO troops deployed in Ukraine. Russia has also repeatedly pushed for Ukraine to give up territory in exchange for peace.

On Monday, the European leaders said international borders “must not be changed by force”, but added decisions on territory were “for the people of Ukraine” to make once effective security guarantees were in place. The meeting was hosted by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, and along with Starmer and President Zelensky, was attended by the leaders of Denmark, Finland, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland and Sweden, as well as European Council President Antonio Costa and EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

It is understood that US negotiators also agreed to the joint statement. President Zelensky said there had been “progress” on an agreement, with the military aspects looking “quite solid”, but added there were some “destructive” elements to the American proposal that should not appear in “new versions”.

He added: “We will do everything possible to find clear answers to questions about security guarantees, territories, and money as compensation for Ukraine to rebuild”.

US officials said that more talks are likely this weekend as the US agreed to provide unspecified security guarantees to Ukraine. The officials said talks with Trump’s envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner led to narrowing differences on security guarantees that Kyiv said must be provided, as well as Moscow’s contentious demand that Ukraine concede land in the eastern Donbas region.

Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump had called into a dinner on Monday evening with negotiators and European leaders, and more talks are expected this weekend in Miami or elsewhere in the United States, according to the US officials. Trump told reporters: “I think we’re closer now than we have been, ever. We’re having tremendous support from European leaders. They want to get it ended, also”.

The officials said the offer of security guarantees would not be on the table “forever”. They said the Trump administration planned to put forward the agreement on security guarantees for Senate approval, although they did not specify whether it would be ratified like a treaty, which needs the chamber’s two-thirds approval. The US officials also said there was consensus on about 90 per cent of the US-authored peace plan, and that Russia had indicated it was open to Ukraine joining the European Union, something it previously said it did not object to.

Team Maverick.