Zelensky thanked Trump for recent security support signs: ‘It is important that the United States agree to work with Europe to provide safety guarantees to Ukraine’
United States special envoy Steve Witkoff said on Sunday (17) that Russian President, he agreed to the president to allow the US and European allies to offer Ukraine a security guarantee similar to NATO collective defense mandate as part of an eventual agreement to end the three and a half years war.
“We have been able to ensure the following concession: that the United States could offer a protection similar to Article 5, which is one of the main reasons why Ukraine wants to enter NATO,” Witkoff said in the CNN State of the Union. He added that “it was the first time we heard the Russians agree with it.”
The president of the European Commission, Ursula Von Der Leyen, said at a news conference in Brussels, along with Ukrainian President Volodmir Zelensky, who “we welcome President Trump’s willingness to contribute to security guarantees similar to Article 5 to Ukraine. And the ‘coalition of the willing” – including the European Union – is ready to do its part. “
Witkoff, in detailing some of the first discussions of the summit held on Friday in Alaska, said the two sides agreed with “robust safety guarantees that I would describe as transformatives.” He added that Russia has compromised legislatively not to advance over any additional territory in Ukraine.
Zelensky thanked the US for recent security support signs, but said the details were not yet clear. “It is important that the United States agree to work with Europe to provide security guarantees to Ukraine,” he said. “But there is no details yet to work, what will be the role of America, Europe, and what the EU can do. This is our main task: we need security to work in practice like NATO Article 5, and consider adherence to the EU part of safety guarantees.”
New scenarios
Witkoff defended Trump’s decision to abandon the pressure for Russia to accept an immediate ceasefire, saying that the president turned to a peace agreement because “significant progress” had been made. “Almost all the other questions needed for a peace agreement were covered,” Witkoff said, without giving more details. “We begin to realize some moderation in the way they think of reaching a final peace agreement.”
Secretary of State, Marco Rubio stated that there would be “additional consequences,” as Trump had warned before meeting with Putin if a ceasefire was not reached. However, Rubio stressed that it would not be possible to close any kind of truce when Ukraine was not present in the negotiations.
“Now, if there is no peace agreement, if this war is not over, the president made it clear that there will be consequences,” Rubio said on ABC’s This Week program. “But we are trying to avoid this. And the way to avoid these consequences is with an even better consequence, which is peace, the end of hostilities.”
Rubio, who is also Trump’s national security advisor, said he did not believe that new sanctions to Russia would force Putin to accept a ceasefire, although he did not rule out the possibility. According to Rubio, “the best way to end this conflict is through a complete peace agreement.”
“When you impose new sanctions, your ability to bring them to the negotiating table-our ability to bring them to the table-will be severely reduced,” Rubio said at NBC’s Meet The Press. He also stressed that “we are not on the verge of a peace agreement” and that getting there will not be easy, demanding a lot of work. “We have advanced to identify potential areas of agreement, but there are still great points of disagreement. So we are still far,” said Rubio.
Zelensky and European leaders have a meeting scheduled for Monday (18), with Trump at the White House, after the conversations of the president with Putin. “I believe everyone agreed that we have made progress. Maybe not enough for a peace agreement, but we are on the way for the first time,” said Witkoff.
He added: “The fundamental question, which is some kind of territorial exchange-which is obviously under the control of the Ukrainians-could not be discussed at this meeting with Putin. We intend to discuss this on Monday. We hope to have some clarity and that this results in a peace agreement very soon.”
*With information from Estadão Content
Posted by Carol Santos
