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Zelenskyy to make unexpected visit to Berlin for talks with Merz – Europe live

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Cite

Krupa, J. (2026, November 3). Zelenskyy to make unexpected visit to Berlin for talks with Merz – Europe live. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2026/nov/03/zelenskyy-berlin-merz-europe-sweden-spain-france-belgium-poland-latest-news

Dated from the outlet's own feed. Check the original for its byline.

The Guardian · collected 2026-11-03 · by Jakub Krupa

Quick Summary

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is set to make an unexpected visit to Berlin for talks with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz ahead of upcoming trilateral discussions involving Russia and the US in Abu Dhabi. Prior to his trip, Zelenskyy addressed recent Russian attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure, stating that over 289 drones, 59 cruise missiles, and 17 ballistic missiles were launched, leading to civilian casualties including injuries at a hospital in Kharkiv and deaths in Komyshuvakha. He emphasized the importance of international support for Ukraine's defense efforts against Russia’s continued missile strikes.
Written by AI on 2026-11-03, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

As of November 3, 2026, the U.S. will mediate peace talks between Russia and Ukraine in Abu Dhabi from November 10-11. This follows intensified diplomatic efforts to end the five-year conflict, with both sides announcing a meeting set for the United Arab Emirates’ capital. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin are expected to discuss security guarantees, an "energy ceasefire," and a truce in the Black Sea aimed at ensuring food exports. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz urged Russia to show seriousness about a ceasefire during his meeting with Zelenskyy in Berlin ahead of the talks. The U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff stated these discussions aim for lasting security arrangements, de-escalation, and humanitarian measures.

Written for “Ukraine Russia Peace Talks Abu Dhabi” on 2026-11-06, grounded in this article and the 14 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Ukraine Russia Peace Talks Abu Dhabi
Politics · 15 article(s) covering the same event. Compare every outlet's account →

Compared with similar articles

This article reads leans left and hedges 0% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
The Straits Times
Hedges 0 of 2 claims Outlet record 66/100
The Straits Times
Hedges 0 of 12 claims Outlet record 66/100
Al Jazeera
Hedges 3 of 31 claims Outlet record 60/100
“The articles describe different events: one is about Zelenskyy's visit to Berlin for talks with Merz, while the other is about his hopes following US midterm elections.”
CBS News
Hedges 0 of 2 claims Outlet record 69/100
“The articles discuss different aspects of Zelenskyy's activities, with Article A focusing on an unexpected visit to Berlin for talks with Merz, while Article B focuses on his hopes regarding U.S. midterm results and support for Ukraine.”
Al Jazeera
Hedges 2 of 27 claims Outlet record 60/100
“While both articles mention Zelenskyy's visit to Berlin and talks with Merz, Article A focuses on the unexpected nature of the visit and its context for upcoming trilateral talks in Abu Dhabi, whereas Article B highlights Zelenskyy's hope that these talks will lead to a meeting including Putin. They are discussing related events but not the same specific occurrence.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
31
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
0%
0 of 31 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
Leans left
of the writing, not the subject · beta estimate
Publisher signals
66/100
The Guardian's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
15
Politics
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-11-03 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

The Guardian · 3048 article(s) · 6 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 6 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Jakub Krupa
27 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 I will keep an eye on this for you.
🔮 The European Commission will hold talks with the US, France, Germany, Britain, Nato, and the World Bank, looking what can be done to help Kyiv throughout the winter and how to support the US-led peace process with the upcoming negotiations in Abu Dhabi.
🔮 Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy is set to make an unexpected visit to Berlin for talks with German chancellor Friedrich Merz ahead of next week’s trilateral talks with Russia and the US in Abu Dhabi.
🔮 Poland’s Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights said on Saturday the legal basis for the temporary suspension was “questionable”, warning it would “not contribute” to restoring the court.
🔮 Marcin Matczak, a prominent law expert and outspoken critic of PiS, said he “did not think he would ever end up defending” Święczkowski, but believed the legal basis for his suspension was “non-existent”.
🔮 If the investigation shows there were failures of organisation or control, we will act accordingly.
🔮 “The crash could sap Sánchez’s recently resurgent momentum and the issue of rail safety now threatens to overshadow his attempts to defend his record and remain in the Moncloa palace.
🔮 Government sources told El País at least 10 people had been killed, and that the crash could be worse than the Adamuz rail disaster in January in which 46 people were killed.
🔮 Until then, we’ll bring you all the key background, explain why it matters for Europe, Ukraine, and you, and give you a flavour of the chatter in the queues outside polling stations from Belgrade to London. I will also keep one eye on the first round of the presidential election in Bulgaria, so expect an odd update on this or two on this. Ready?
🔮 He is expected to speak after the meeting, so once to watch.
Also by Jakub Krupa
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 27 articles by Jakub Krupa →

Topics

Abu Dhabi Berlin German Russia Ukraine

Subjects

Merz PERSON · 8× Zelenskyy PERSON · 8× Berlin GPE · 5× Russia GPE · 5× Ukraine GPE · 5× German NORP · 4× Nato ORG · 4× Friedrich Merz PERSON · 2× Jakub Krupa PERSON · 2× Volodymyr Zelenskyy PERSON · 2×

Narrative

Morning opening: Zelenskyy to make unexpected visit to Berlin for talks with Merz Jakub Krupa Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy is set to make an unexpected visit to Berlin for talks with German chancellor Friedrich Merz ahead of next week’s trilateral talks with Russia and the US in Abu Dhabi.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-11-03
🔮 Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy is set to make an unexpected visit to Berlin for talks with German chancellor Friedrich Merz ahead of next week’s trilateral talks with Russia and the US in Abu Dhabi.

Claims (31 extracted, 0 hedged)

Morning opening: Zelenskyy to make unexpected visit to Berlin for talks with Merz Jakub Krupa asserted
Zelenskyy → make → Merz
Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy is set to make an unexpected visit to Berlin for talks with German chancellor Friedrich Merz ahead of next week’s trilateral talks with Russia and the US in Abu Dhabi. asserted
president → set → Dhabi
The rumours about Zelenskyy’s potential visit started swirling last night, with Merz confirming the visit during an industry speech this morning. asserted
Merz → swirl → speech
The Ukrainian president’s trips are usually kept secret until the last moment for security reasons. asserted
trips → keep → reasons
Recalling the infamous showdown between Zelenskyy and Trump at the White House last year, Merz said: “He’ll be here with me just after midday, and things will be a bit different then.” asserted
things → recall → midday
In his speech, Merz said the German push to rapidly increase its defence spending last year was triggered by the scenes in the Oval Office. asserted
push → say → Office
“What we experienced last year … led me to conclude that we must ensure, on our own, that we are capable of defending ourselves in Europe,” he said. asserted
he → experience → Europe
He added that this was not meant to question Nato, but strengthen it. asserted
this → add → it
“We are making Nato more European so it can remain transatlantic,” he said. asserted
he → make → ?
Elsewhere, we are expecting updates from Sweden, with a second parliamentary vote on the new government, which is expected to fail once again (51 days on from elections). asserted
which → expect → elections
We should also get some lines from Spain, where transport minister Óscar Puente is will present new ideas on reforming high-speed rail after last week’s tragic crash in Toledo before facing a parliamentary committee. asserted
Puente → get → committee
Russian attacks on Ukraine on US election day 'telling,' Zelenskyy says asserted
Zelenskyy → tell → day
Before arriving in Berlin, Ukraine’s Zelenskyy condemned Russia’s overnight attacks on critical infrastructure across the country, which he said were causing “emergency and unscheduled power outages”. asserted
he → arrive → outages
He said the attacks – which involved 289 drones, 59 cruise missiles and 17 ballistic missiles – also hit civilian buildings, including a city hospital in Kharkiv, where 73 people were injured. asserted
people → say → Kharkiv
Tragically, the death toll has risen. asserted
toll → rise → ?
Russia has killed 29 people.” asserted
Russia → kill → people
He added: “It is very telling that all of this is happening on the day of the US congressional elections. asserted
all → add → elections
The Russians believe that America will not notice this signal from them. asserted
America → believe → them
But such terror must be noticed and stopped. asserted
terror → notice → ?
Ukraine must be helped to defend its skies, otherwise Russia will never stop its missile strikes. asserted
Russia → help → strikes
It is essential to help build peace honestly and reliably, and America can do that. asserted
America → help → that
Morning opening: Zelenskyy to make unexpected visit to Berlin for talks with Merz Jakub Krupa Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy is set to make an unexpected visit to Berlin for talks with German chancellor Friedrich Merz ahead of next week’s trilateral talks with Russia and the US in Abu Dhabi. asserted
Zelenskyy → make → Dhabi
The rumours about Zelenskyy’s potential visit started swirling last night, with Merz confirming the visit during an industry speech this morning. asserted
Merz → swirl → speech
The Ukrainian president’s trips are usually kept secret until the last moment for security reasons. asserted
trips → keep → reasons
Recalling the infamous showdown between Zelenskyy and Trump at the White House last year, Merz said: “He’ll be here with me just after midday, and things will be a bit different then.” asserted
things → recall → midday
In his speech, Merz said the German push to rapidly increase its defence spending last year was triggered by the scenes in the Oval Office. asserted
push → say → Office
“What we experienced last year … led me to conclude that we must ensure, on our own, that we are capable of defending ourselves in Europe,” he said. asserted
he → experience → Europe
He added that this was not meant to question Nato, but strengthen it. asserted
this → add → it
“We are making Nato more European so it can remain transatlantic,” he said. asserted
he → make → ?
Elsewhere, we are expecting updates from Sweden, with a second parliamentary vote on the new government, which is expected to fail once again (51 days on from elections). asserted
which → expect → elections
We should also get some lines from Spain, where transport minister Óscar Puente is will present new ideas on reforming high-speed rail after last week’s tragic crash in Toledo before facing a parliamentary committee. asserted
Puente → get → committee
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