After meeting with U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reiterated that Ukraine will never give up Donbas or recognize it as part of Russia.

While disagreements remained on that issue, Zelenskyy expressed satisfaction that he was at least able to personally convey Ukraine's position to the Americans and that it was heard.

Estonian security expert Rainer Saks noted, however that a breakthrough cannot be declared until agreements have been signed and military operations ceased.

"What we are seeing now is that the U.S. has asked Russia for its starting position and is trying to negotiate with Ukraine on that basis in order to find common ground between the two positions, on the basis of which a peace agreement could be drawn up. Although only the U.S., Europe, and Ukraine spoke in Berlin, talks with Russia in some form are still to come," Saks said.

According to Saks, if there is any progress to speak of, it is perhaps in relation to a greater understanding of security guarantees.

"Europe and the U.S. have reached a more concrete understanding of how to ensure security in Ukraine after a ceasefire has been achieved and what these military guarantees will be," Saks said.

He recalled that Ukraine is very familiar with the experience of the Budapest Memorandum, in which Ukraine gave up its nuclear weapons and ultimately received nothing in return.

"Now Ukraine is demanding real military guarantees, and it seems that some understanding is emerging to that end," Saks said.

Saks did not rule out the fact that there are politicians in Europe trying to convince the Ukrainian president that some territorial concessions would be beneficial. However, in his opinion, the majority of European countries still consider the cession of additional territories to Russia completely unacceptable.

The European countries participating in the Berlin meeting expressed their readiness for the coalition of the willing to form a multinational unit with U.S. support, which could be sent to Ukraine once peace is restored.

On Tuesday, Russia reiterated that it would not agree to the deployment of NATO troops in Ukraine under any circumstances.

According to Chair of the Riigikogu's Foreign Affairs Committee Marko Mihkelson (Reform), Estonia is ready to contribute to the international unit.

"If an international unit is formed through a coalition of the willing after a peace deal is concluded to ensure peace and security, then Estonia will definitely participate," said Mihkelson.

However, he also noted that only Ukraine, European countries and the United States participated in the talks in Berlin, with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov having recently said that Russia's goals have not changed.

"At the moment, I do not see that the Berlin meetings have brought peace any closer," Mihkelson said.

According to Mihkelson, the U.S. administration is primarily interested in bringing the war to a swift end. However, speed and quality may not be the same thing from Ukraine's point of view.

"Of course, it is positive that European and American representatives were able to talk with Zelenskyy, but peace can only be achieved if the aggressor agrees to it. In fact, it is very, very bad to see how all the pressure is being put on the victim, but not on the aggressor," said Mihkelson.

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