Could Trump’s guarantees for Ukraine spark progress in peace talks? WSJ weighs in
Donald Trump, President of the US (photo: Getty Images)
US President Donald Trump told European leaders that he is ready to provide Ukraine with American security guarantees. This marked a significant shift in his stance on Washington’s role in ending the war with Russia, reports The Wall Street Journal.
After meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, around 3:00 a.m. Central European Time, Donald Trump called European leaders. He stated that Putin wants to continue military actions despite signals of readiness for dialogue.
Sources cited by The Wall Street Journal noted that Trump appeared tired and irritated by Putin and said he had been working almost nonstop for nearly a full day.
In this context, Trump discussed with European leaders Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s proposal to provide Ukraine with security guarantees similar to NATO’s Article 5 on collective defense.
Indeed, Kyiv has long sought security guarantees from Washington, but the White House has never provided any such assurances.
Now the discussion concerns military and financial support for Ukraine from the Western coalition led by the US. However, the deployment of American troops on Ukrainian territory is not planned.
“The security guarantees as described by Trump on the call included bilateral security commitments and financial and military support for Ukraine’s armed forces by a Western coalition of the willing including the US,” European officials told The Wall Street Journal. At the same time, participants in the talks still have differing interpretations of whether this involves a direct military component.
According to the newspaper, Trump also intends to hold a trilateral meeting with Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Vladimir Putin soon.
Incidentally, the issue of new sanctions against Russia may only return to the agenda if the negotiations fail.
Trump–Putin meeting
US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin held talks at a military base in Anchorage, Alaska. The main topic of the meeting was ending Russia’s war against Ukraine.
According to Trump, no agreement on a ceasefire was reached during the meeting, and the further course of events now depends on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
President Zelenskyy announced that on Monday, August 18, he will travel to Washington to discuss the details of ending the war with Trump.
