 "Russia-Ukraine war: What US security guarantees for Ukraine could look like")
To many, it looks like the meeting between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska bore no results.
Not only was there no ceasefire or peace agreement, Putin and Trump didn’t even stick around for the planned lunch.
However, some in the Trump administration are claiming they got a big concession from Putin.
Trump envoy Steve Witkoff, for example, has claimed that the Russian president has agreed to let the US offer a ‘Nato’-like security guarantee to Ukraine.
“We were able to win the following concession: That the United States could offer Article Five-like protection, which is one of the real reasons why Ukraine wants to be in NATO”, Witkoff said. It was “the first time we had ever heard the Russians agree to that,” Witkoff added.
The development comes as a head of a meeting at the White House between Zelenskyy, Trump and European leaders.
But what would such a security guarantee for Ukraine look like?
Let’s take a closer look:
A brief look at Nato and Article 5
First let’s take a brief look at Nato and its security guarantee.
North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato) is the world’s largest military alliance.
It was established in 1949 after World War II with the aim of countering the threat of the Soviet armies in Europe.
It initially comprised a dozen countries – Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
However, today it has 32 members including Finland, which joined in 2023, and Sweden, which joined in 2024.
At the heart of Nato lies Article 5, which essentially says that an attack on one is an attack on all.
It states, “The Parties agree that an armed attack against one or more of them in Europe or North America shall be considered an attack against them all and consequently they agree that, if such an armed attack occurs, each of them, in exercise of the right of individual or collective self-defence recognized by Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations, will assist the Party or Parties so attacked by taking forthwith, individually and in concert with the other Parties, such action as it deems necessary, including the use of armed force, to restore and maintain the security of the North Atlantic area.”
Article 5 has only been invoked once in Nato’s history, in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks on America. This resulted in US forces and Nato invading Afghanistan.
Trump in the past has threatened to withdraw America from Nato particularly during his first term. He has often complained about America footing the bill for the allies. Nato members have responded by vowing to raise their own spending on defence to 5 per cent of their GDP.
What would a security guarantee for Ukraine look like?
A source has said that the United States has proposed offering Ukraine a Nato-style security guarantee.
However, Kyiv would not be allowed to formally join the alliance.
The development came to light after a series of calls between Trump, Zelenskyy and other European leaders.
This way, Ukraine would get the promise of Nato-style collective defence without the underlying legal obligation.
This would also not result in a protest from Russia, which has long considered Nato a thorn in its side. Moscow had stated that Kyiv’s long-standing demand to join Nato was one of the reasons it invaded Ukraine.
Putin is said to have agreed to this demand, according to the source.
If true, this would be a major change of heart from the Kremlin.
Russia previously said any solution to the war would need to address the “root causes of the conflict,” most significantly Ukraine demilitarising and abandoning its aspirations of joining NATO.
The Kremlin has also said any peace agreemen t needs to recognise its sovereignty over Crimea, which it annexed in 2014, and parts of Eastern Ukraine.
Trump after his meeting with Putin said a peace deal could be done if Zelenskyy agreed to give up the entire Donbas region.
However, Zelenskyy has been insisting that Ukraine will never hand over its territory over a foreign occupier. Zelenskyy has cited the Ukrainian Constitution as the reason for doing so. The Constitution of Ukraine requires a nationwide referendum to be held to determine such questions.
“Everyone agrees that borders must not be changed by force,” Zelenskyy wrote on X.
“Everyone supports that key issues must be resolved with Ukraine’s participation in a trilateral format – Ukraine, the US, and the Russian chief.”
European leaders, some of them who share a border with Russia , have also push back on such a peace deal.
Regardless, Witkoff is already touting the development as a major breakthrough.
“We didn’t think that we were anywhere close to agreeing to Article Five protection from the United States in legislative enshrinement within the Russian Federation, not to go after any other territory when the peace deal is codified,” Witkoff said.
“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.”
“We’re on the path for the first time,” he said. “We are seeing accommodation more than we’ve seen in the past, certainly more than we saw in the last administration. And that’s encouraging. Now we have to build on that.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote on X that it is “a historic decision that the United States is ready to take part in security guarantees for Ukraine”.
“Security guarantees, as a result of our joint work, must really be very practical, delivering protection on land, in the air, and at sea, and must be developed with Europe’s participation”, he added.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Sunday said that she welcomed the security guarantees for Ukraine, and that the “European Union … is ready to do its share”.
With inputs from agencies
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