US links security guarantees for Ukraine to peace deal with Russia
White House (illustrative photo: Getty Images)
Ukraine must first sign a peace agreement with Russia to receive security guarantees from the United States. However, assumptions that Ukraine is being forced into territorial concessions are said to be misleading, Reuters reports.
A source familiar with the course of the negotiations told the publication that, in the view of the United States, Ukraine must first sign a peace agreement with Russia. Only after that will Kyiv receive security guarantees.
At the same time, the source denied that the United States is pressuring Ukraine in an attempt to force it to make territorial concessions to Russia. The interlocutor assured that assumptions about such pressure are allegedly misleading.
The publication noted that security guarantees from the United States are viewed by Ukraine as a key element of a peace agreement. This issue was one of the main topics during previous talks in Abu Dhabi, and the delegations of Ukraine, the United States, and Russia will meet there again this Sunday.
In Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that the document is ''100% ready.'' However, Ukrainian officials are not sure that Washington will commit to fulfilling the security guarantees, as the United States ''stops each time the security guarantees could be signed.''
Recently, the media reported that the administration of US President Donald Trump allegedly told Ukraine that providing security guarantees depends on Kyiv's flexibility on territorial issues — meaning concessions over Donbas. However, the White House denies this: no one is forcing Ukraine into any concessions.
This weekend, the first trilateral talks between Ukraine, Russia, and the United States took place in Abu Dhabi. They received a positive assessment from the American side. Ukraine also described the trilateral talks in the Emirates as substantive. The next meeting of the delegations will take place there on February 1.
