The latest round of discussions comes amid growing U.S. pressure to advance negotiations and fresh accusations from Trump that Zelensky is the one refusing to agree to the American plan.
U.S. officials told WSJ that French President Emmanuel Macron, U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz will attend talks with Witkoff scheduled for Dec. 14-15.
The next round of discussions was initially expected to take place on Dec. 13, however the date for a meeting involving Zelensky was not immediately clear. The Kyiv Independent has reached out to the White House for confirmation.
The reported meeting involving Zelensky follows news that Kyiv and its European partners handed Washington their revisions to the U.S.-proposed peace framework, with territorial concessions dominating tensions between the parties.
Moscow has demanded that Ukraine leave the eastern Donbas region, including parts of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts Russia has failed to seize over more than a decade of war.
Zelensky has said Ukraine’s withdrawal from unoccupied parts of Donbas, the scope of security guarantees, and the status of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant remain the most sensitive elements under negotiation.
He added that any territorial decisions must be made by Ukrainians themselves, either through elections or a referendum.
In its search for consensus on its territorial sovereignty, Kyiv has pushed to involve European partners in negotiations after the continent found itself completely shut out of a process that directly affects its security.
The WSJ reported that European leaders had initially hoped to arrange a meeting with Trump in Europe this weekend after a tense phone call between the European leaders and Trump on Dec. 10 — in which Trump reportedly pressured European leaders to press Zelensky to accept the U.S. peace plan.
The White House has previously signaled impatience with the diplomatic process with Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt telling reporters that Trump is “sick of meetings just for the sake of meeting.”
