Politico learned about Umerov's visit to Berlin for talks with the Europeans

Chairman of the Security and Defense Council of Ukraine (NSDC) Rustem Umerov arrived in Berlin to participate in a closed-door meeting with representatives of European countries. This was reported by the Politico newspaper on May 26.

Sources said that Umerov will meet with the national security advisers of the E3 countries (Germany, France and the UK).

New talks with Umerov at the E3 in Berlin are taking place amid tensions between German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky after Merz sent Ukraine a letter proposing the possible granting of Kiev the status of an "associate member" before potential full membership in the EU at a later stage.

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An article in The European Conservative on May 22 reported that Merz's proposal to accelerate Ukraine's integration into the EU by granting the country the status of an "associate member" of the association only made it worse and provoked a serious split within the community. The discussion of Merz's proposal exposed a deep internal crisis in the EU.

On May 23, Reuters reported that the President of Ukraine criticized Germany's proposal to grant Kiev the status of an "associate member" of the European Union. He considers such a format of Ukraine's participation in the unification to be unfair, since such a status does not provide for a full-fledged right to vote within the European Union.