US and Europe begin work on security guarantees for Ukraine: discussions to continue on Tuesday
Kyiv • UNN
The US and Europe are beginning work on providing Ukraine with robust security guarantees. This should pave the way for a meeting between Zelenskyy and Putin, and also avoid limitations on the size of the Ukrainian armed forces.
US and European officials, according to sources familiar with the situation, will immediately begin work on providing Ukraine with robust security guarantees to pave the way for a landmark meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin, with discussions continuing on Tuesday, August 19, Bloomberg reports, writes UNN.
Details
"The guarantees will aim to strengthen Ukraine's armed forces and capabilities without any restrictions, such as troop limits," sources said. The goal is to avoid Russia's demands to limit the size of Ukraine's armed forces as part of a future peace agreement, the publication writes.
A summit at the White House between President Donald Trump, Zelenskyy, and several European leaders on Monday led to a clearer statement from the US administration about its readiness to guarantee Ukraine's security. These talks have so far dispelled Ukraine's and Europe's fears that the American leader was heading towards Moscow after talks with Putin in Alaska, the publication notes.
"During the meeting, we discussed security guarantees for Ukraine, which will be provided by various European countries in coordination with the United States of America," Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.
On Tuesday, European Union leaders are to be informed remotely about the results of the talks in Washington
Romanian Foreign Minister Oana Toiu announced earlier on X that "a virtual meeting of the European Council leaders will take place tomorrow at 2:00 PM EET (3:00 PM Kyiv time).
In an interview with the BBC, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said that further talks on security guarantees for Ukraine with the US would take place on Tuesday.
Now we will work with the US on these security guarantees. We have given our teams a task. Some of them will even be there tomorrow (August 19 - ed.) to start detailed work on this
Starmer added that the guarantees would "reassure people in Europe, in Ukraine, but especially in the UK."
Earlier, Zelenskyy told reporters that security guarantees for Ukraine would be formalized within 10 days. Part of these guarantees includes the purchase of $90 billion (£66 billion) worth of American weapons, he said.
According to Bloomberg, the security guarantee package will also be based on the work of the so-called "coalition of the willing" - a European group led by the UK and France, "and is expected to include a multinational force in the future," sources said. The format of this group has not yet been determined, they added.
According to people, at Monday's meeting, leaders showed broad support for guarantees similar to "Article 5" - a reference to NATO's mutual defense clause and a formula initially proposed by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni - but warned that their exact details and the US role must first be worked out by officials.