Donald Trump offers NATO-style security guarantees to Zelensky in bid to end conflict
Washington: US President Donald Trump is offering NATO-style security guarantees to Ukraine in his most significant pledge yet to end the Russia-Ukraine war that has raged for nearly four years.
Speaking during ongoing talks in Berlin, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz welcomed the “significant” progress and the “significant” offer from the United States, but noted that both sides still have unresolved territorial claims.
US officials confirmed that security guarantees based on Article 5 of the NATO treaty (which states that an attack on one member state is an attack on all) were proposed during eight-hour talks between US, Ukrainian and European teams in Berlin.
“I think the Ukrainians, as well as the Europeans, will tell you that this is the most robust set of security protocols they’ve ever seen; it’s a very, very strong package,” a U.S. official told reporters in a briefing call, describing it as the “platinum standard.”
Officials did not elaborate on the proposal but confirmed it would not involve fielding American boots. They also emphasized that the offer is for a limited time only.
“These guarantees will not be on the table forever. These guarantees are on the table right now,” one official said.
One of the officials at the meeting said the security proposal included “a little more” than the collective defense mechanism included in the NATO treaty.
“This is surveillance, verification and deconfliction; everything that we think needs to be addressed so that the Ukrainian people feel safe is included in this package,” they said.
Officials said Trump believed he could get Russian President Vladimir Putin to accept an Article 5-like security guarantee for Ukraine, and noted that they were “surprised” by the confidence Europeans had on this issue.
“Hopefully the Russians will look at this and say to themselves, ‘That’s OK, because we have no intention of violating,'” one official said.
US officials did not say whether the guarantee would be approved as an agreement, but it was stated that Trump was ready to receive Senate approval. They said he was briefed twice during the negotiations and was supportive.
The US delegation in Berlin is led by White House peace envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner. European leaders were expected to continue meeting late into the night, with many reports suggesting Trump would call from Washington.
Speaking to reporters during the talks, Merz described the latest US offer as “truly remarkable” and said it was the first time solid security guarantees from both Europe and the US were on the table.
Later, in a post on X, he wrote: “For the first time since the war began, a ceasefire now looks possible.”
But important questions regarding land concessions remained unresolved. The United States has repeatedly called on Kiev to cede territory to Moscow in ways that roughly reflect current battle lines, while Russia has also claimed territory it could not seize by force.
For example, Moscow has pushed for full control of the Donbas region, of which Ukraine still holds 10 to 18 percent. The US has suggested it could be a demilitarized, free economic zone.
“Only Ukraine can decide on territorial concessions,” Merz said at a joint press conference with Zelensky. “There are no ifs or buts.”
Negotiators in Berlin have split into a working group to discuss the region and have drafted a three-page document on unresolved issues, a US official said. There are “many different solutions to close the gap” between Ukrainian and Russian demands, they said, without elaborating.
Zelensky said progress is important. He recently offered to formally abandon his demands for Ukraine to join NATO, which the United States and other NATO members have long rejected, if robust security guarantees for Ukraine are offered.
The developments came as Ukrainian officials said underwater drones had hit and disabled a Russian Kilo-class attack submarine at the Russian navy’s most important remaining Black Sea base, in the first operation of its kind.
The attack carried out by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) with its “Submarine Baby” unmanned aerial vehicles hit the submarine in the port of Novorossiysk, where Russia has re-based many of its navy ships to keep them away from Ukrainian attacks.
Footage released by the SBU showed a powerful explosion emerging from the water at the pier near where a submarine and other ships docked. Reuters confirmed the location of the video using the port’s layout and piers.
Moscow later denied Ukraine’s allegations. “Not a single ship or submarine or crew of the Black Sea fleet stationed in the bay of Novorossiysk Naval Base was damaged as a result of sabotage and is not in service as usual,” the Russian Ministry of Defense said early on Tuesday (AEDT).
Meanwhile, the head of Britain’s MI6 spy agency on Monday, London time, accused Putin of stalling efforts to put an end to Ukraine and testing the West with tactics that fell “just below the threshold of war.”
Blaise Metreweli said Putin was determined to “subjugate Ukraine and harass NATO members.”
“We are now operating in a space between peace and war,” he said in his first public speech since becoming chief of Britain’s foreign intelligence agency two months ago.
Reuters via AP
Michael Koziol is the North America correspondent for The Age and the Sydney Morning Herald. He is a former Sydney editor, Sun-Herald deputy editor and a federal political correspondent in Canberra.Connect with: excitement or email.
