US pressures Ukraine to accept security guarantees within days — Politico
Photo: Meeting between representatives of Ukraine, the US, and Germany in Berlin (Telegram Zelenskiy / Official)
The US promises Ukraine security guarantees similar to those outlined in NATO's Article 5. However, Washington has hinted that the agreement must be finalized before Christmas, otherwise the terms may be less favorable, Politico reports.
The proposal is the strongest and clearest security guarantee that the administration of US President Donald Trump has offered Ukraine.
But it comes with a de facto ultimatum: Ukraine must agree to the terms in the near future, otherwise the next terms may be less favorable.
The US has hinted that the agreement must be finalized before Christmas.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and many European leaders are reluctant to agree to a deal without clear security guarantees from the US, fearing that Russia will attack again in the future.
This latest US proposal is likely an attempt to allay those fears and encourage Zelenskyy to act quickly.
"The basis of that agreement is basically to have really, really strong guarantees, Article 5-like. Those guarantees will not be on the table forever. Those guarantees are on the table right now if there’s a conclusion that’s reached in a good way," says a senior Trump administration official.
These are legal and military commitments that can be ratified by Congress and remain in effect even after Trump's presidential term ends.
At the same time, Europe fears that without Ukraine's full accession to NATO, such guarantees may prove insufficiently effective in practice.
Ukraine and NATO membership
The administration of US President Donald Trump is ready to provide Ukraine with legally binding security guarantees based on Article 5 of the NATO Treaty.
According to the American official, the agreement will be put to a vote in the US Congress. He noted that Washington seeks to offer Kyiv not a blank check, but a strong and real security guarantee.
Meanwhile, Donald Trump said in an interview that the understanding that Ukraine would not join NATO had formed long before Vladimir Putin began talking about it.
