Zelenskyy: The US is prepared to participate in providing security guarantees for Ukraine
According to the US "Politico" website, on August 17 local time, US Middle East envoy Witko said that during a discussion about the results of the recent U.S.-Russia summit in Alaska, the two leaders unexpectedly reached an agreement on allowing security guarantees to be provided to Ukraine after the war.
Witko told CNN: "We have reached an agreement that the US and other European countries can effectively provide wording similar to Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty (collective defense clause) to cover security guarantees." However, it is worth noting that this statement has not been confirmed by the Russian side yet.
On the same day, Ukrainian President Zelenskyy stated in a statement: "The US is prepared to participate in providing security guarantees for Ukraine, which is a historic decision. As a result of our joint efforts, these security guarantees must be very practical, capable of providing protection on land, air, and sea, and must be developed with the participation of Europe."
The report mentioned that for Europeans who had strongly lobbied before the U.S.-Russia summit, progress in the area of security guarantees was good news, but the assessment by U.S. Secretary of State Rubio that Russia is unlikely to agree to a ceasefire soon was worrying. Zelenskyy said that Ukraine is striving to reach an agreement aimed at stopping the fighting and is prepared to negotiate on territorial changes as part of a peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine, but Ukraine will not give up territories not occupied by Russian forces.
Zelenskyy emphasized that he is willing to negotiate with Russian President Putin in future talks mediated by U.S. President Trump. "Given the importance of the territorial issue, it should only be discussed by the leaders of Ukraine and Russia in a trilateral meeting involving Ukraine, the United States, and Russia," he said: "So far, there has been no indication from Russia that it will hold a trilateral meeting. If Russia refuses, new sanctions must be imposed."
On the afternoon of August 17 local time, UK Prime Minister Starmer, French President Macron, and leaders of other pro-Ukrainian countries met and expressed appreciation for Trump's clear statement of willingness to provide security guarantees for Ukraine, and reiterated their commitment to "deploying a (security) guarantee force after hostilities cease."
On the same day, Zelenskyy met with EU Commission President von der Leyen in Brussels, Belgium, and then held a press conference and gave a speech. He will fly to Washington on August 18 local time to meet with Trump.
Original: www.toutiao.com/article/1840769187294208/
Statement: The article represents the personal views of the author.