The United States and Europe are willing to offer Ukraine the security guarantees necessary to protect this country if, in the future, Russia decides to attack it again, as announced this Monday by American and European sources in Berlin.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wants allies to give him the same protection he would have if he belonged to NATO. In exchange, he would put aside the request for his country to join this organization.
The agreement could be closer than ever, according to participants. “For the first time since the war began, a ceasefire now seems possible,” said the host, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
US President Donald Trump joined Merz’s optimism from Washington. “I think we are closer now than ever.” [del alto el fuego]”He said. Regarding the security guarantees, he did not consider them agreed upon, but stated: “We are working on it. We are working on it with Europe (…), so that the war does not start again.”
In a statement from Germany and several European countries, including France, Poland, Italy and the United Kingdom, some of these guarantees are detailed, such as the deployment of a European multinational force in Ukraine, backed by the United States, and dedicated to protecting airspace and the sea. This protection, outside the NATO framework, should be formalized in a “legally binding commitment” that would require “taking measures to restore peace and security in the event of a future armed attack.”
According to the details that have become known, the United States would not deploy military forces in Ukraine to guarantee its protection. American sources, cited by several media, indicated that the guarantees will not be on the table forever, a way to pressure Zelensky to accept the agreement. Trump would like to announce it at Christmas, a date that European capitals see hastened. And in any case, the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, will have to accept it, something that seems difficult today. Putin wants guarantees that Ukraine will never join NATO, but, according to the US, he would accept entry into the EU.
Despite the progress regarding security guarantees, the negotiation remains stuck on another fundamental point: kyiv will only make territorial concessions if it is certain that the United States and Europe will protect it in the event of a new attack after the ceasefire.
The American idea of a demilitarized zone in the Ukrainian region of Donbas, mostly under Russian control, centers the discussions. This demilitarized zone would force Ukraine to withdraw from territories it still controls. In a press conference with Merz, Zelensky noted that “positions differ.”
The optimism of the German chancellor and, more toned down, of the Ukrainian president, is due to the fact that, for the first time, they believe they have added the United States to the plan to offer Ukraine conditions that prevent a repetition of the Russian invasions of 2014 and 2022.
“The US has told us that it is willing to give us security guarantees that correspond to Article 5,” Zelensky said. The Ukrainian president was alluding to the article in the NATO treaty that establishes that an attack on one member is an attack against all. Merz added: “It is a substantial and ambitious agreement that we did not have until now. Both the Europeans and the Americans are willing to give Ukraine guarantees similar to those in Article 5.”
For Ukraine and Europe, the objective of the meeting in Berlin was to be seated at the table where their future will be decided, and to prevent the United States and Russia from agreeing to peace behind their backs. It was about, if not designing, at least influencing the agreement, and softening its most humiliating aspects for the invaded country.
The meetings in Berlin come after three weeks of wrangling over a plan proposed by the US and negotiated by Trump adviser Steve Witkoff and Putin adviser Kirill Dmitriev. The original plan proposed drastic conditions for Ukraine, with territorial cessions, limits on its armed forces and amnesty for war crimes.
The diplomatic day began with a meeting between Zelensky and the American emissaries, Witkoff and Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law. They had met for the first time on Sunday. Witkoff stands out for his closeness to Putin and in conversations some see him as a kind of transmission belt with the Kremlin.
The expanded summit that closed the second day was attended by, among others, the French president, Emmanuel Macron; British Prime Minister Keir Starmer; her Italian counterpart, Giorgia Meloni; the Polish Donald Tusk; the Secretary General of NATO, Mark Rutte, and the leaders of the European Council and the Commission.
