By Bongiwe Dlamini

MBABANE:United States (US) President Donald Trump claimed on Monday that an agreement to end Russia’s nearly four-year war against Ukraine is “closer than ever” after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy held talks with several European leaders and US diplomats in the German capital, Berlin.

Aljazeera reported that, during the two days of high-level talks in Berlin, diplomats discussed how to secure Ukraine against future military threats from Russia, among other sticking issues.

“Before the Berlin meetings, Zelenskyy said Kyiv was willing to drop its NATO ambition in exchange for legally binding security guarantees. Russia used the NATO expansion as one of the justifications for its invasion in 2022.European leaders, however, say key differences are yet to be resolved between Moscow and Kyiv over territorial issues,” reads the Aljazeera report in part.