Ukraine: Berlin to host Zelenskyy, allies for talks
Skip next section Thank you for reading12/13/2025December 13, 2025Thank you for readingBefore signing out, here's a recap of the three big stories of the day:
Zelenskyy posted a video that he said was recorded in the frontline town of Kupiansk and said Ukrainian forces had retaken parts of the town
European Union agreed to indefinitely freeze Russian assets in Europe, overruling objections from Hungary and Slovakia
Zelenskyy will speak with European leaders in Berlin on Monday, a German government spokesman said earlier today
Thanks for reading and we'll be back tomorrow.
https://p.dw.com/p/55HIDSkip next section WATCH: Russia advances slowly in Ukraine with massive casualties12/12/2025December 12, 2025WATCH: Russia advances slowly in Ukraine with massive casualtiesRussian forces have claimed control of the city of Pokrovsk in Ukraine's Donetsk region after months of fierce fighting, while Ukraine says it still holds a sliver of the city. The battle for this strategic crossroads could open the way to the cities of Kramatorsk and Sloviansk. Moscow now controls 19% of Ukraine, but very limited gains have come at a huge human cost.
As winter bites, Russia pounds energy infrastructure, while Ukraine strikes oil facilities and tankers. Both sides escalate as the United States and Europe prepare different peace plans.
Russia advances slowly in Ukraine with massive casualties
https://p.dw.com/p/55GcxSkip next section EU will move Ukraine membership forward despite Hungary veto12/12/2025December 12, 2025EU will move Ukraine membership forward despite Hungary vetoIn an unprecedented move, the European Commission will move Ukraine's membership process forward at a technical level despite Hungaryblocking official talks on accession.
Under the new plan, the Ukrainian government will push ahead with reforms needed to meet EU eligibility criteria. EU staffers will assess Kyiv's progress in aligning with the bloc's laws and standards in areas like judicial independence unofficially — circumventing Budapest's veto on opening formal negotiations.
The EU's enlargement commissioner, Marta Kos, told DW she received "clear instructions" to advance Ukraine's bid from EU ministers meeting in Lviv earlier this week.
"I'm very, very happy and encouraged to go even faster in this process," she said.
Hungary's backing will still be required for any final decisions on membership, with unanimous support from all current members necessary for any new countries to join the currently 27-member bloc.
"At some point, we will have to find unanimity," Kos acknowledged when pressed on the feasibility of the plan. "But for the time being, for the technical part, we can go on."
https://p.dw.com/p/55H1NSkip next section EU membership 'political anchor' in Ukraine peace deal, EU commissioner says12/12/2025December 12, 2025EU membership 'political anchor' in Ukraine peace deal, EU commissioner saysUkraine could join the European Union as early as January 2027 under the latest US plan to end the war with Russia. European Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos told DW about the possibility of Ukraine joining the EU and the move being part of the peace plan.
"When we speak about the Ukrainian EU membership, for me this is a political anchor of the security guarantees," she said, adding that integration into the EU was the only way "to secure the lasting and fair peace."
On whether 2027 was a realistic timing, Kos said it all still depended on how quickly Ukraine can implement reforms and the input from the bloc's 27 current member states on the topic of accepting Ukraine.
"We can take care that Ukraine will be democratic," she said. "We can take care that the people would really feel the benefits of being a member of the EU."Kos: Ukraine's EU integration 'only way' to secure peace
https://p.dw.com/p/55GxISkip next section EU takes next step to use Russian assets to fund defense of Ukraine12/12/2025December 12, 2025EU takes next step to use Russian assets to fund defense of UkraineA majority of European Union national governments agreed on Friday at a meeting in Brussels to freeze Russian assets held in Europe indefinitely.
The agreement brings the 27-member bloc a step closer to using the Russian assets to fund Ukraine's defense against Russia's full-scale invasion, which began in February 2022.
Belgium, Bulgaria, Italy and Malta said in a joint statement on Friday that they had voted in favor of the European Union's plans to indefinitely freeze Russian central bank assets held in Europe.
"In a spirit of co-operation, Belgium, Bulgaria, Italy and Malta are voting 'YES' in the current written procedure but specify that this vote does not pre-empt in any circumstances the decision on the possible use of Russian immobilized assets that needs to be taken at Leaders' level," the countries said in the statement.
EU Council President Antonio Costa said European leaders had committed in October "to keep Russian assets immobilized until Russia ends its war of aggression against Ukraine and compensates for the damage caused. Today we delivered on that commitment."
Before Kyiv receives any of the money from Russian assets, EU leaders have to work out at a summit next week how to underwrite a loan to provide the funds to Ukraine.
https://p.dw.com/p/55GnUSkip next section Zelenskyy to visit Berlin as Merz calls talks intense12/12/2025December 12, 2025Zelenskyy to visit Berlin as Merz calls talks intenseGerman Chancellor Friedrich Merz still sees many unresolved issues in Ukraine talksImage: Christian Marquardt/NurPhoto/picture allianceUkrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will visit Berlin on Monday for talks with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and "many" other NATO and European allies, a German government spokesperson said Friday.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron are also reportedly expected at the meeting to discuss the latest developments in a US-led plan to end the war in Ukraine.
On Friday, Merz said there is still a major need to resolve questions in international efforts to end the war and provide security guarantees for Ukraine.
"The discussions are being conducted very intensively these days," Merz said. "We are trying to involve the US government in the talks we are having among ourselves, as well as with the Ukrainian government and the Ukrainian president."
Merz said talks about security guarantees mainly focus on strengthening the Ukrainian military in the long run and ensuring the country can protect itself on its own.
"We are ready to make our own contributions to this. Contributions from the US side will also be needed," Merz said, adding that the question of how and in what details this will be integrated into an overall concept remains open.
https://p.dw.com/p/55FjqSkip next section Erdogan proposes limited Ukraine-Russia ceasefire in talks with Putin12/12/2025December 12, 2025Erdogan proposes limited Ukraine-Russia ceasefire in talks with Putin Turkey, which has sought to maintain relations with Moscow and Kyiv throughout the warImage: Kristina Kormilitsyna/TASS/IMAGOTurkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met Russian leader Vladimir Putin in Turkmenistan, proposing a limited ceasefire in the Ukraine-Russia war.
The plan focuses on protecting energy facilities and ports.
Erdogan's office said the two leaders also discussed broader peace efforts and the EU's freezing of Russian assets.
Ankara recently condemned drone attacks on tankers in the Black Sea, calling them a dangerous escalation.
On Thursday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Turkey is working on a ceasefire plan tied to energy infrastructure and shipping. He said Kyiv supports the idea and is ready for talks.
https://p.dw.com/p/55GUhSkip next section WATCH: Munich Security chief says Ukraine peace is only first step for Europe12/12/2025December 12, 2025WATCH: Munich Security chief says Ukraine peace is only first step for EuropeWolfgang Ischinger, chairman of the Munich Security Conference, has warned that the end of the war in Ukraine would only be the start of European efforts to secure peace in Europe. End of Ukraine war won't secure peace in Europe: Ischinger
https://p.dw.com/p/55FcfSkip next section Kremlin says ceasefire only possible if Kyiv withdraws from Donbas12/12/2025December 12, 2025Kremlin says ceasefire only possible if Kyiv withdraws from DonbasKremlin foreign policy adviser Yury Ushakov said a ceasefire in Ukraine would only be possible if Kyiv's forces fully withdraw from the Donbas region.
"A ceasefire can only happen after the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops," the Russian newspaper Kommersant quoted him as saying.
"If not by negotiation, then by military means, this territory will come under the full control of the Russian Federation. Everything else will depend entirely on that," Ushakov added.
Russia currently controls all of Luhansk and large parts of Donetsk, which together make up the Donbas. Ukraine, however, continues to hold several large and heavily fortified cities, including Sloviansk and Kramatorsk.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who has always insisted that it would be politically, morally and constitutionally impossible for him to simply cede Ukrainian territory, said Thursday that the US had proposed some sort of demilitarized "free economic zone."
In addition to repeating that a referendum or election would be required to allow such a move, Zelenskyy questioned who would police such a zone and called for concrete security guarantees
https://p.dw.com/p/55F1kSkip next section Zelenskyy says he visited troops in embattled Kupiansk12/12/2025December 12, 2025Zelenskyy says he visited troops in embattled KupianskPresident Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he visited the frontline town of Kupiansk, where Ukrainian forces said they have been retaking territory.
In a video posted on his Telegram account on Friday, Zelenskyy appeared wearing a bulletproof vest at the city's entrance sign.
"Today, it is extremely important to achieve results on the front lines so that Ukraine can achieve results in diplomacy," Zelenskyy said.
Kyiv has repeatedly dismissed Russian claims of sweeping advances, saying Moscow is trying to push a narrative of Ukraine's imminent collapse to influence peace negotiations.
Reports suggest the United States is pushing Kyiv to make major territorial concessions as part of its plan to end the nearly four-year war.
https://p.dw.com/p/55EvtSkip next section Ukraine says it retook several villages near Kupiansk12/12/2025December 12, 2025Ukraine says it retook several villages near KupianskUkraine says its forces have taken back parts of Kupiansk in the northern Kharkiv region and several nearby villages in a move that surrounded Russian troops.
"Kindrashivka, Radkivka, and their outskirts have been liberated, as well as a number of neighborhoods in northern Kupiansk," the Khartiia army corps said on social media.
Kupiansk is a key railway hub that Russia last month claimed to control, a claim Ukraine denied. Russian forces had first seized the city in 2022, but Ukrainian troops retook the city in the fall of that year.
"Today, we can say that the Russians in the city are completely cut off. For a long time, they couldn't understand what was happening. But now they know they are surrounded," Ihor Obolienskyi, commander of the Khartiia Corps of the National Guard, was quoted by the Ukrainska Pravda news outlet.
Russia did not immediately comment on Kyiv’s statement.
https://p.dw.com/p/55EnjSkip next section Russia sues Euroclear over frozen assets12/12/2025December 12, 2025Russia sues Euroclear over frozen assetsRussia's central bank is suing Belgium-based financial firm Euroclear over frozen state assets in Europe.
The case, filed in a Moscow arbitration court, accuses Euroclear of unlawful actions that caused losses to the Bank of Russia.
Euroclear manages about €185 billion of the €210 billion ($247 billion) in Russian assets frozen under EU sanctions since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Anatoly Aksakov, the head of the Russian parliament's finance committee, said the central bank will likely win the case. Recovering the money will prove more difficult.
The lawsuit comes as EU member states move to permanently block those funds and use them to support Ukraine. Currently, the freeze is renewed every six months.
https://p.dw.com/p/55EikSkip next section US plan to end Russia's war in Ukraine: Where it stands now12/12/2025December 12, 2025US plan to end Russia's war in Ukraine: Where it stands nowThere has been a flurry of diplomatic activity between Washington, Kyiv, Moscow and European capitals to discuss a plan to end the war. But US President Donald Trump says he's tired of talking — he wants action.
Read more on where the protracted peace talks stand and what the various stakeholders want from the negotiations.
https://p.dw.com/p/55ECGSkip next section Kremlin says it 'may not like' revised US proposal12/12/2025December 12, 2025Kremlin says it 'may not like' revised US proposalKremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov said Russia had not yet seen the revisions the US made to a proposed deal to end the war in Ukraine.
Washington's amendments followed talks with Ukraine and included some sort of a demilitarized "free economic zone," according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Zelenskyy said Kyiv was "fully aligned with the American side." But Moscow is unlikely to be on that same side, Ushakov suggested.
"We haven't seen the revised versions of the American drafts. When we see them, we may not like a lot of things, that's how I sense it," he told reporters on Friday.
Ushakov also said Moscow needed to see what the outcome of the "active brainstorming session" between European and Ukrainian officials over the weekend.
Asked about how Russia viewed Zelenskyy's suggestion that a referendum be held on any territorial concessions, Ushakov insisted that the entire Donbas region belongs to Russia.
https://p.dw.com/p/55Dy0Skip next section Hungary protests EU plan to freeze Russian assets12/12/2025December 12, 2025Hungary protests EU plan to freeze Russian assetsHungary has protested what it calls an unlawful EU plan to freeze Russian assets indefinitely using a qualified majority vote.
Prime Minister Viktor Orban said in a Facebook post on Friday warned the move would damage the EU.
"Brussels will step over the Rubicon today, with a written voting starting which will cause irreparable damage to the Union," Orban said. "Hungary protests the decision and will do its best to restore a lawful situation."
Hungary has been one of the only EU members to maintain ties with Russia since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
https://p.dw.com/p/55CVc
