The U.S. is willing to provide security guarantees to Ukraine, Trump: Unprecedentedly close to peace

According to U.S. officials, the U.S. is willing to provide security guarantees similar to NATO's "Fifth Article" to Ukraine; previously, Zelenskyy had stated his willingness to abandon joining NATO. Germany, France and more than a dozen European countries have issued statements, pledging to establish a multinational force to ensure Ukraine's security.

Since last weekend, representatives from Ukraine, the United States and European countries have gathered in Berlin, Germany, to discuss the issue of peace in the Russia-Ukraine war. On Monday, December 15, the U.S. said it agreed to provide security guarantees similar to NATO (NATO) "Fifth Article" to Ukraine as part of a Russia-Ukraine ceasefire agreement.

"Fifth Article" refers to Article Five of the Washington Treaty, which is the principle of collective defense by NATO: an attack on one member of NATO will be regarded as an attack on all members, and other member states can offer assistance for defense. After the meeting between U.S. and Russian leaders in Alaska in August, U.S. envoy Witkoff (Steve Witkoff) had said that Russia had agreed to security guarantees for Ukraine, but at that time, Russia did not confirm it.

Reuters described the U.S. proposal as unprecedented since the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine war; Associated Press pointed out that the details of this security guarantee are still unclear. U.S. officials said that this proposal "will not remain on the negotiation table forever"; next, the Trump administration plans to send this proposal to the Senate for approval, but has not specified whether it is a treaty-level document requiring approval by two-thirds of the Senate.

U.S. President Trump said at the White House that he had just spoken with Ukrainian President Zelenskyy and leaders of several European countries, and was optimistic about the prospect of achieving peace between Russia and Ukraine: "We are working hard to make this happen... We have talked many times with Russian President Putin, and I believe we are unprecedentedly close to (reaching an agreement)."

When briefing the media, U.S. officials also said that Russia is open to the possibility of Ukraine joining the EU. According to U.S. claims, 90% of the issues between Russia and Ukraine have already reached consensus; as for the long-standing point of contention, the issue of territory and sovereignty, the U.S. said, "There are many different ways to bridge the gap, and we are also proposing suggestions to all parties."

The U.S. representative sent to Berlin is Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law Kushner (Jared Kushner). U.S. officials revealed that representatives from all sides will hold more working-level meetings this weekend in Miami or other cities in the United States.

German Chancellor Merz (Friedrich Merz, also known as Mertz) said that the U.S. security guarantee proposal is a "significant and substantial" progress; as to whether a deal can be reached before Christmas, "it now completely depends on Russia."

Kremlin spokesman Peskov (Dmitry Peskov) responded that trying to predict the schedule for reaching an agreement is futile: "I can only speak on behalf of Russia and President Putin's position. He welcomes peace and serious decisions, but absolutely does not welcome any tactics to delay time."

Source: DW

Original: toutiao.com/article/1851655632761865/

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