President Trump's peace plan for Ukraine includes a security guarantee modeled on NATO's Article 5, which would commit the U.S. and European allies to treat an attack on Ukraine as an attack on the entire "transatlantic community," according to a draft obtained by Axios.
Trump's plan demands painful concessions from Ukraine, but it also includes an unprecedented promise. President Volodymyr Zelensky's top objective in peace talks is to obtain a robust U.S. and European security guarantee, and this is the first time Trump has been willing to put one on the table.
The 28-point plan U.S. Army Secretary Dan Driscoll presented to Zelensky on Thursday, which was also obtained by Axios, says simply that "Ukraine will receive reliable security guarantees." But alongside it, the U.S. presented the Ukrainians with another draft agreement.
It states that any future "significant, deliberate, and sustained armed attack" by Russia on Ukraine "shall be regarded as an attack threatening the peace and security of the transatlantic community," and the U.S. and its allies will respond accordingly, including through military force.
The document includes lines for signatures from Ukraine, the U.S., the EU, NATO and Russia. A senior White House official said Russia was briefed on the draft, but it's unclear if President Vladimir Putin's signature will ultimately be required. The security guarantee would be for an initial 10 years, and could be renewed by mutual consent.
A senior White House official and another source with direct knowledge confirmed the document's legitimacy. The senior official said the proposal will have to be discussed with European partners and could still change. Elements of the proposal were reported by the Wall Street Journal.
The official said the Trump administration views the proposed security guarantee as a "big win" for Zelensky and for Ukraine's long-term security.
Zelensky now has a proposal in his possession that would require him to cede even more Ukrainian territory than Russia currently controls and see Russia welcomed back into the community of nations — with sanctions lifted and amnesty for war crimes. But it would also give him a stronger guarantee against further Russian aggression than previously seemed likely while Trump was in the White House.
The plan could open Trump up to backlash with his America First allies, as it would effectively commit the U.S. military to defending Ukraine in the event of another war.
Posted by John3262005
7 Comments
At this point Zelensky should just go all in and change the name to Trumpkraine. What do they have to lose?
Might get him a better plan than this.
I think the ‘ceding areas Russia doesn’t control’ is going to be a no-go for Ukraine
I’m shocked Trump allowed this lol. Then again, his word is basically meaningless, even if he has the legal obligation to do something he won’t give a shit
Ask to join NATO and foreign troops on the ground. See if russia agrees to that
Concession of land Ukraine still controls, forcibly weaken Ukraine’s military, a ban on NATO troops on the ground in Ukraine, complete amnesty for Russia with full re-integration and all Russia has to do is have a civic class to tell their people to be nice to Ukrainians while continuing to blast genocidal rhetoric on air? This security guarantee isn’t worth the paper it’s printed on.
This is too vague. If Ukraine is being coerced to neuter its military capabilities, this certainly won’t suffice unless you put EU/US troops along the “ceasefire lines”.
Remember the Budapest Memorandum where Russia and the US promised Ukraine that they would insure its safety for denuclearizing.
Article 5 does not obligate any specific action. If London got nuked tomorrow, the US could fulfill its obligation by sending MREs and blankets and call it a day.
Someone here had a great comment a few days ago which was something like: everyone who is willing to go to war in the Donbas is already fighting there
Im very doubtfull of russia agreeing any kind of security guarantess for ukraine.