The U.S. diplomatic push to end nearly four years of fighting following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has bogged down over sharply conflicting positions on territory.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was in Berlin on Monday for a meeting with U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff and President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner following their talks on the previous day that lasted over five hours. In a statement on X, Witkoff said they held “in-depth discussions” Sunday and “a lot of progress was made.”
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German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier welcomes Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the Bellevue Palace in Berlin, Germany, Monday, Dec. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Maryam Majd)
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy smiles during a visit of the German federal parliament, Bundestag, in the Reichstag building in Berlin, Germany, Monday, Dec. 15, 2025. (Christoph Soeder/dpa via AP)
Russian President Vladimir Putin looks at papers while listening to Secretary of United Russia party's General Council Vladimir Yakushev during their meeting at the Kremlin, in Moscow, on Monday, Dec. 15, 2025. (Mikhail Metzel, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, center right, and Volodymyr Zelenskyy, center left, President of Ukraine, leave the Bellevue Palace in Berlin, Germany, Monday, Dec. 15, 2025. (Kay Nietfeld/dpa/dpa via AP)
Witkoff and other U.S. officials offered little detail on the two days of talks, but Russian and Ukrainian leaders have publicly described some of their demands.
Russian President Vladimir Putin wants all the areas in four key regions that his forces have seized, as well as Crimea, which was illegally annexed in 2014, to be recognized as Russian territory. He also has demanded that Ukraine withdraw from some areas in eastern Ukraine that Moscow forces have not captured yet.
The Kremlin also insists that Ukraine abandon its bid to join NATO, limit the size of its army, grant official status to the Russian language and recognize the Russian Orthodox Church. It warns it won't accept the deployment of any troops from NATO members and will view them as “legitimate target.”
At the same time, Russia has signaled that it wouldn't object to Ukraine joining the European Union — a position that Moscow has taken before.
Russia has refused to halt the fighting until a comprehensive peace deal is reached.
Kyiv has said it’s ready to halt the fighting along the existing front line — although it would not officially cede territory currently under Russian control. It has rejected Moscow’s demands that it pull back its troops from other areas that Russia has not been able to take by force.
Zelenskyy on Sunday also rejected a compromise U.S. idea for Ukraine to withdraw from the Donetsk region and create a demilitarized free economic zone there.
He has expressed readiness to drop Ukraine’s bid to join NATO if the U.S. and other Western nations give Kyiv security guarantees similar to those offered to members of the military alliance.
Zelenskyy and his European allies have repeatedly accused Putin of dragging out the talks to extend Russian territorial gains.
Trump has appeared to voice increasing exasperation with Zelenskyy, saying the Ukrainian leader should accept the U.S. proposal to cede some territory to Russia, arguing Moscow has the “upper hand” in the war.
Trump, mirroring a view expressed by Putin, repeated his call for Ukraine to hold a wartime presidential election even though martial law doesn’t allow it and Zelenskyy, elected in 2019, had his five-year term extended because of the fighting.
Moscow also hasn’t fully backed the White House plan. While Putin has praised Trump’s peace efforts, he also noted that some parts of the plan were unacceptable for Moscow and needed more work. Kremlin officials accused Ukraine and its European allies of “worsening” the initial 28-point U.S. plan with their alterations.
German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier welcomes Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the Bellevue Palace in Berlin, Germany, Monday, Dec. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Maryam Majd)
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy smiles during a visit of the German federal parliament, Bundestag, in the Reichstag building in Berlin, Germany, Monday, Dec. 15, 2025. (Christoph Soeder/dpa via AP)
Russian President Vladimir Putin looks at papers while listening to Secretary of United Russia party's General Council Vladimir Yakushev during their meeting at the Kremlin, in Moscow, on Monday, Dec. 15, 2025. (Mikhail Metzel, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, center right, and Volodymyr Zelenskyy, center left, President of Ukraine, leave the Bellevue Palace in Berlin, Germany, Monday, Dec. 15, 2025. (Kay Nietfeld/dpa/dpa via AP)
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Rob Reiner’s younger son, Nick Reiner, was in police custody Monday for what investigators believe was the fatal stabbing of the director-actor and his wife at their home a day earlier, a law enforcement official told The Associated Press.
Online jail records show Nick Reiner, 32, was booked by Los Angeles police and remained in jail on Monday. It was not immediately clear what charges he would face. The online records showed a $4 million bail had been set.
The law enforcement official, who was briefed on the investigation, confirmed that he was being held, but could not publicly discuss the details and spoke to AP on condition of anonymity.
Representatives for Reiner's family did not immediately respond to a request for comment and it wasn’t immediately clear if Nick Reiner had an attorney who could speak on his behalf.
Nick Reiner has spoken publicly of his struggles with addiction. By 18, he had cycled in and out of treatment facilities with bouts of homelessness and relapses in between. Rob and Nick Reiner explored their difficult relationship and Nick Reiner’s struggles with drugs in a semi-autobiographical 2016 film, “ Being Charlie.”
Rob and Michele Singer Reiner were found dead Sunday at their home in Los Angeles, and investigators believe they suffered stab wounds, the law enforcement official said.
The Los Angeles Fire Department said it responded to a medical aid request shortly after 3:30 p.m. and found a 78-year-old man and 68-year-old woman dead inside. Reiner turned 78 in March.
Detectives with the Robbery Homicide Division were investigating an “apparent homicide” at Reiner’s home, said Capt. Mike Bland with the Los Angeles Police Department.
Los Angeles authorities have not confirmed the identities of the people found dead at the residence in the upscale Brentwood neighborhood on the city’s west side that’s home to many celebrities.
Reiner was long one of the most prolific directors in Hollywood, and his work included some of the most memorable movies of the 1980s and ’90s, including “This is Spinal Tap,” “A Few Good Men,” “When Harry Met Sally,” and “The Princess Bride.”
His role as Meathead in Norman Lear’s 1970s TV classic “All in the Family,” as a liberal foil to O’Connor’s Archie Bunker, catapulted him to fame and won him two Emmy Awards.
The son of comedy legend Carl Reiner, Rob Reiner was married to photographer Michele Singer Reiner since 1989. The two met while he was directing “When Harry Met Sally” and had three children together: Nick, Jake and Romy.
Relatives of Lear, the legendary producer who died in 2023, said their deaths left them bereft.
“Norman often referred to Rob as a son, and their close relationship was extraordinary, to us and the world,” said a Lear family statement. “Norman would have wanted to remind us that Rob and Michele spent every breath trying to make this country a better place, and they pursued that through their art, their activism, their philanthropy, and their love for family and friends.”
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass called it a devastating loss for the city.
“Rob Reiner’s contributions reverberate throughout American culture and society, and he has improved countless lives through his creative work and advocacy fighting for social and economic justice,” Bass said in a statement. “An acclaimed actor, director, producer, writer, and engaged political activist, he always used his gifts in service of others.”
Reiner was previously married to actor-director Penny Marshall from 1971 to 1981. He adopted her daughter, Tracy Reiner. Carl Reiner died in 2020 at age 98 and Marshall died in 2018.
Killings are rare in the Brentwood neighborhood. The scene is about a mile from the home where O.J. Simpson’s wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman were killed in 1994.
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Balsamo reported from Washington. Associated Press Entertainment Writer Andrew Dalton in Los Angeles contributed.
CORRECTS IDENTITY OF NICK AND JAKE REINER - FILE - Honoree Rob Reiner, second left, poses with his wife Michele, left, and children Jake, center, Romy, and Nick at the 41st annual Chaplin Award Gala at Avery Fisher Hall, April 28, 2014, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)
LAPD Deputy Chief Alan Hamilton speaks near Rob Reiner's residence Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025, in the Brentwood section of Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)
FILE - Rob Reiner and Michele Reiner arrive on the red carpet at the State Department for the Kennedy Center Honors gala dinner, Dec. 2, 2023, in Washington. (AP Photo/Kevin Wolf, File)
FILE - Rob Reiner arrives at the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network's Respect Awards, in Beverly Hills, Calif., Friday, Oct. 8, 2010. (AP Photo/Matt Sayles, File)
A police officer blocks off a street near Rob Reiner's residence Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025, in the Brentwood section of Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)
FILE - Honoree Rob Reiner, second left, poses with his wife Michele, left, and children Nick, center, Romy, and Jake at the 41st Annual Chaplin Award Gala at Avery Fisher Hall, April 28, 2014, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)
