Russia says Ukraine's non-Nato status 'cornerstone' in peace talks

The Kremlin called Kyiv's non-NATO status a "cornerstone" in talks to end the conflict, after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy admitted some of the alliance's members were against his country joining the bloc.

"This issue is one of the cornerstones and requires special discussion," spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists during a daily briefing.

He added Russia was expecting the US to "provide us with the concept that is being discussed in Berlin today," as Zelenskyy held talks in the German capital with US envoys and European leaders seeking a way forward.

Zelenskyy is set to push on with talks in Berlin with US administration envoys on how to end the conflict with Russia.

Zelenskyy's delegation huddled for over five hours on Sunday with US special envoy Steve Witkoff and the US president's son-in-law Jared Kushner.

Witkoff said afterwards on X that "a lot of progress was made, and they will meet again tomorrow morning."

Their meeting was held under tight security in the chancellery in Berlin, where Germany's leader Friedrich Merz is due to host a dinner on Monday with Zelenskyy, a group of European leaders and the NATO and EU chiefs.

'Difficult questions lie ahead'

Key questions remain on Ukrainian territorial concessions, future security guarantees for Kyiv, and whether Moscow would agree to any proposal hammered out by Europe and the U.S.

"We want a lasting peace in Ukraine," Merz wrote on X. "Difficult questions lie ahead of us, but we are determined to move forward."

As Zelenskyy headed to Germany, he said he hoped Washington would back the idea of freezing the frontline where it is, rather than Ukraine ceding the entire Donbas region as Moscow demands.

"The fairest possible option is to stay where we are," Zelenskyy told reporters. 

"This is true because it is a ceasefire... I know that Russia does not view this positively, and I would like the Americans to support us on this issue."

Zelenskyy said on Sunday that Ukraine stands ready to agree on security guarantees based on NATO Article 5 as a part of a compromise in the peace process, the Ukrinform, Ukraine’s national news agency reported.

"From the very beginning, Ukraine's desire was to join NATO, these are real security guarantees. Some partners from the United States and Europe did not support this direction," he told reporters. "It is already a compromise on our part."

Zelenskyy said he was not yet ready to disclose specific details of the proposed security guarantees, saying they would be known in a day or two.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly demanded that Ukraine officially renounce its NATO ambitions and withdraw troops from roughly 10 percent of the eastern Donbass region which Kyiv still controls.

Moscow has also said that Ukraine must be a neutral country and that no NATO troops can be stationed there.

Russian sources earlier this year said Putin wants a "written" pledge by major Western powers not to enlarge the U.S.-led NATO alliance eastwards - shorthand for formally ruling out membership to Ukraine, Georgia, Moldova and other former Soviet republics.

'A critical moment'

Finnish President Alexander Stubb, who has been closely involved in the Ukraine talks and is meeting Zelenskyy on Monday ahead of the US negotiations, sounded a tentatively hopeful note.

"I think we are at a critical moment in negotiations for peace," he told Dutch TV program Buitenhof broadcast.

"And at the same time, we're probably closer to a peace agreement than we have been at any time during these four years," said Stubb, who also met Kushner in Berlin on Sunday evening.

Stubb said the sides were working on three main documents - the framework of a 20-point peace plan, one relating to security guarantees for Ukraine, and a third on reconstruction of the country.

"So we're looking at the details together with the Americans, Europeans, and the Ukrainians," he added.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and the leaders of Britain, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland and Sweden were among those expected in the German capital on Monday.

Russia's strong doubts

Kyiv officials later said they had sent Washington a revised version.

Witkoff said "in-depth discussions" were held on Sunday about that plan, "economic agendas and more."

Zelenskyy said on Sunday, "The most important thing is that the plan should be as fair as possible, first and foremost for Ukraine, because Russia started the war."

In Russia, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov cast strong doubt on the latest round of diplomacy.

"I think the contribution of both Ukrainians and Europeans to these documents is unlikely to be constructive, that's the problem," he said in a video message. 

Ushakov said Moscow had not seen the latest documents but added that "if there are any relevant amendments, we will have very strong objections, since we have very clearly stated our position, which, it seems, was quite clear to the Americans."

The latest push in the efforts to put an end to the conflict came as Kyiv reported new attacks on its territory, including a drone strike on a hospital over the weekend.

The Russian Defense Ministry said that its air defense units had shot down 130 Ukrainian drones overnight, 15 of which were headed for Moscow.

Sergei Sobyanin, the mayor of Moscow, said that four more Ukrainian drones en route to the capital had been brought down on Monday morning and that emergency services were on the scene.

Ukrainian forces periodically send drones towards the Russian capital, which often disrupt the work of the capital's airports.

Rosaviatsia, the Russian aviation watchdog, said that Moscow's Domodedovo and Zhukovsky airports had been forced to suspend their operations along with a number of other Russian airports in the south of the country.

Yuri Slyusar, governor of the southern Rostov region, said that a power line had been damaged as a result of an overnight drone attack.

Europe split over financing Ukraine

The European Union, meanwhile, was scrambling to agree a plan on financing Ukraine in the coming years, with a proposal to use frozen Russian assets set for discussion at a leaders' meeting on Thursday.

"We are not there yet, and it is increasingly difficult, but we're doing the work and we still have some days," EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas told journalists.

Russia's central bank said on Friday that plans by the EU to use its assets were illegal and that it reserved the right to employ all available means to protect its interests.

In a separate statement, the central bank said it was suing Brussels-based financial institution Euroclear – which holds many of the assets – in a Moscow court over what it said were damaging actions, affecting its ability to dispose of its funds and securities.

Key player Belgium - which hosts the vast bulk Russian central bank assets frozen in the bloc - has so far opposed a plan to tap the funds to provide a €90 billion ($106 billion) "reparations loan" to Ukraine.

The move is backed by a raft of EU countries that argue it is the best way to help Ukraine plug looming budget shortfalls as the conflict nears the four-year mark, but several nations, including Italy, have said they share Belgium's concerns.