Russia indicates it's open to Ukraine joining EU as part of peace deal to end war, US officials say

Berlin: Russia has indicated it's open to Ukraine joining the European Union as part of a potential peace deal to end the war, according to US officials said Monday.

The officials who briefed reporters after US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as well as British, French and German officials in Berlin over the last two days said that such an offer would be a major concession by Moscow. But Russia has previously said it does not object to Ukraine joining the EU.

The US officials, who were not authorized to comment publicly by the White House and spoke on the condition of anonymity, said that the US has also agreed to provide unspecified security guarantees to Kyiv as part of the deal but that such an offer won't be on the table “forever.”

The latest round of talks between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and US envoys ended Monday as Kyiv faces Washington's pressure to swiftly accept a US-brokered peace deal while confronting an increasingly assertive Moscow.