Zelensky meets US negotiators in Berlin as US wants Ukraine to cede Donbas

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky started a second day of talks with U.S. negotiators in Berlin on Monday, a senior Ukrainian official told AFP, as diplomatic efforts to end the war intensify.

The official told AFP the second day of talks had started, after Zelensky's delegation huddled for more than five hours on Sunday with Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff and the U.S. president's son-in-law Jared Kushner on ending the conflict unleashed by Russia's 2022 invasion.

U.S. negotiators still want Ukraine to cede control of the eastern Donetsk and Lugansk regions, collectively known as the Donbas, as a condition of peace talks with Russia, an official briefed on the negotiations told AFP on Monday.

Russian President Vladimir "Putin wants territory," the official said, adding that the United States was demanding that Ukraine "withdraw" from the regions -- and that Kyiv was "not agreeing" to this demand.

"It's a bit striking that the Americans are taking the Russians' position on this issue," the official added.