Ukraine could receive security guarantees modelled on Nato’s Article 5 mutual defence pledge under a proposed peace deal with Russia, US officials said yesterday – an unprecedented offer aimed at ending the war sparked by Moscow’s 2022 invasion.
Two US officials described the proposed protections, discussed during two days of talks in Berlin including a dinner last night, as “Article 5-like,” signalling a strong commitment to Ukraine’s security even though Kyiv is not a Nato member.
President Donald Trump told reporters in the Oval Office that he spoke to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and the leaders of Germany, Italy, Nato, Finland, France, Britain, Poland, Norway, Denmark and the Netherlands after the Berlin talks and that he is optimistic a deal may be near.
“We’re trying to get it done. And I think we’re closer now, and they, they will tell you that they’re closer now. We had numerous conversations with President Putin of Russia, and I think we’re closer now than we have been ever and we’ll see what we can do,” Trump said.
The two US officials, speaking to reporters on an earlier conference call after US peace talks with Ukrainian and European officials, said the guarantees would not be on the table forever, as Trump presses for an end to the war sparked by Russia’s 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The officials said there was broad agreement on 90 per cent of the issues between Ukraine and Russia.
But they acknowledged that territory and sovereignty would still have to be resolved by the parties themselves. Ukraine has said previously it would not cede territory to Russia.
Opinion polls in Ukraine have shown that few Ukrainians are willing to accept territorial concessions, which remain a key Russian condition for ending its war.
The Russians have shown little willingness to compromise on their demands.
One US official said Russia was open to Ukraine joining the European Union and that Trump wanted to prevent Russia from moving further west.
Article 5 is considered the cornerstone of the Nato defence alliance’s founding treaty.
It stipulates that an attack against one member of the group is considered an attack against them all.
It was unclear how far the US would go in providing such security guarantees to Ukraine.
The officials said the guarantees would include intense monitoring and deconfliction measures to prevent small conflicts from becoming larger ones.
“Those guarantees will not be on the table forever. Those guarantees are on the table right now if there’s a conclusion that’s reached in a good way,” one official said.
The talks in Berlin were led on the US side by Trump envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law.
The officials said longstanding territorial issues remain but one said, “We’ve got multiple different solutions to bridge the gap that we are suggesting to them.”
Meanwhile, Ukrainian underwater drones struck and disabled a Russian Kilo-class attack submarine in the Russian navy’s most important remaining Black Sea base, in the first operation of its kind, Ukrainian officials said yesterday.
The strike hit the submarine in the port of Novorossiysk where Russia has rebased many naval vessels to put them out of reach of Ukrainian strikes.
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