Germany is inviting the United States to join a high-stakes meeting in Berlin early next week on a potential Ukraine ceasefire, Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Thursday after talks with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte.

Axar.az informs. citing Politico, the meeting, expected to bring together key European leaders and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, is intended to align positions on the rapidly evolving peace effort.

Merz said the United States has been asked to participate, but whether it joins will “very much depend” on progress in negotiations “over the weekend” between the E3 — the U.K., France and Germany — Ukraine and the U.S. on the underlying documents.

That includes a European proposal on potential territorial arrangements that was sent to Washington only late Wednesday.

“It mainly concerns the question of what territorial concessions Ukraine is prepared to make,” Merz said.

The invitation follows a tense call on Wednesday between Merz, France’s Emmanuel Macron, Britain’s Keir Starmer and U.S. President Donald Trump, in which the sides struggled to bridge differences on the direction of the peace effort.

“No peace must be made without us being involved,” Merz said, arguing that Europe’s security interests must be written into any deal.