Keev: The US has proposed a safety guarantee for Ukraine, similar to the NATO’s collective defense agreement, but is different from the alliance.
The proposal came to light during a call between US President Donald Trump, Ukrainian President Volodimier Zelanski and European leaders on Saturday.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggested a “motivated” security guarantee to the US by Article 5 of NATO.
A diplomatic source told AFP that the US proposed “a non-NATO Article 5 type guarantee, which was agreed with Putin”.
Article 5 of NATO states that attack on a member is considered an attack on all, requiring collective defense.
Meloni said that the proposal would allow Ukraine to get support from partners including the US over again attacking.
He clarified in March that such a response would not mean military action.
Kiev has long sought NATO membership, but Russia opposed it citing security concerns.
Trump has constantly rejected Ukraine’s dialect to join NATO.
Prior to the joint call, Trump and Zelancesi discussed the recent Alaska summit with Putin.
The diplomatic source said that the US reiterated its proposal during a conversation with European leaders.
Another source confirmed that a guarantee -like guarantee was discussed but Putin’s approval was questioned.
The source said, “Nobody knows how it can work and Putin will agree to it.”
Meloni’s statement did not mention whether Putin was consulted on the proposal.
Zelansky is scheduled to meet Trump in Washington on Monday.
The second source said that Zelanski would discuss a potential Trump-Putin-Zalensky summit and security guarantee. – AFP
