Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte on Friday intensified a call for concrete security assurances from Kyiv’s allies in the event of a peace deal with Russia.
Speaking in the Ukrainian capital, they urged allies to go beyond symbolic gestures and deliver a framework that looks and feels like NATO’s Article 5 — the alliance’s common defense provision.
“Currently, negotiations are underway virtually every day on the specific content of security guarantees for Ukraine,” Zelenskyy said, advocating for “guarantees like Article 5 … and these are really effective security guarantees. This is the result we need to achieve.”[…]
Rutte outlined a “two-layer” approach: First, fortify Ukraine’s own military strength; second, build binding commitments from the U.S. and Europe.
“They must be of such a level that Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, sitting in Moscow, would never even think of attacking Ukraine again,” the NATO chief said.
Adding to the pressure to European contributions to security guarantees, Trump — speaking after Monday’s White House meetings — reaffirmed his administration’s willingness to be involved in providing Ukraine with security assurances.
Trump ruled out deploying U.S. ground troops, and he’s also against Ukraine joining NATO, but he did signal openness to offering American air support, saying Europe should take the “first line of defense” while the U.S. “would help them … by air.” Läs artikel