A White House official on Friday confirmed to AFP the accuracy of a Wall Street Journal report that envoy Steve Witkoff will meet with Zelensky and European leaders over the weekend to discuss the status of peace negotiations.

Germany’s government has said Berlin will host the leaders, including the heads of the European Union and Nato, next Monday in the hours after Zelensky attends a German-Ukrainian business forum with Chancellor Friedrich Merz.

Washington has been stepping up pressure on Kyiv to reach an agreement.

Ukrainian officials said they recently sent Washington an updated plan building on Trump’s original 28-point peace proposal to end the war that began when Russia launched a large-scale invasion of its neighbour in February 2022.

Trump’s plan, publicly revealed last month, was accused of echoing Moscow’s key demands, including Ukraine giving up crucial territory to Russia.

The idea of a speedy accession by Ukraine into the European Union – a move opposed by Moscow – is included in the latest version of a US-led plan to end the war.

Ukraine would join the EU as early as January 2027 under the latest US plan, a senior source familiar with the matter told AFP on Friday.

Meanwhile, Europeans and Ukrainians are asking the US to provide them with “security guarantees” before Ukraine negotiates any territorial concessions, the French presidency said on Friday.