On Monday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will attend a high-stakes White House meeting with President Donald Trump.
The upcoming meeting comes on the heels of Trump’s summit with Russian leader Vladimir Putin in Anchorage on Friday, where the U.S. leader shifted from demanding a ceasefire to calling for a final peace deal.
Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff told CNN that Putin agreed to allow the U.S. to provide Ukraine “robust security guarantees.”
“We got to an agreement that the United States and other European nations could effectively offer Article 5-like language to cover a security guarantee,” in reference to the critical NATO provision,” Witkoff said, referencing the military alliance’s mutual defense clause, known as Article 5.
NATO’s Article 5 – the cornerstone of the alliance – stipulates that an attack on one member is an assault on all, obligating allies to come to each other’s defense. The proposed security guarantees for Ukraine would not come through NATO, but rather from select European allies in the event of a Russia-Ukraine peace deal.
Zelenskyy welcomed the revelation during a Sunday press conference alongside European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
“It’s important that America agrees to work with Europe to provide security guarantees for Ukraine, and we are very thankful to the United States under the president for such a signal,” Zelenskyy said.
“This is a significant change, but there are no details about how it will work and what America’s role will be, what Europe’s role will be and what the EU can do,” he added.
