Trump team uses security guarantee to pressure Ukraine on peace deal

U.S. officials said on Monday that they’ve developed a peace deal to end the conflict between Ukraine and Russia, which would provide Ukraine with security guarantees similar to those outlined in Article 5 of the NATO treaty.

But they warned it was a limited-time offer, as President Trump presses to end the war that has raged since February 2022 and resulted in hundreds of thousands of casualties.

“Those guarantees will not be on the table forever,” one official told reporters after two days of U.S. peace talks in Berlin with Ukrainian and European officials.

“The guarantees are on the table right now,” the official said, detailing all the Russian incursions into Ukraine since 2014. “President Trump really wants to see this as an agreement that ends that for good. That’s really what we’re trying to find a way to do.”

The officials did not say how far the United States would go to provide security guarantees for Ukraine. They repeatedly compared it to Article 5 of the NATO defense alliance’s treaty. Article 5, a cornerstone of that treaty, stipulates that an attack against one member of the group is considered an attack against them all. Ukraine is not a member of NATO.

The peace deal would also prevent Ukraine from joining NATO.

Another official described the security guarantee as “the platinum standard for what can be offered,” comparing the guarantees to Article 5.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has repeatedly emphasized the need for Ukraine to receive firm security guarantees from U.S. and European allies, expressing hope that it would be on par with the guarantee for NATO members.

Mr. Zelenskyy has even suggested that Kyiv could accept strong security assurances as a potential substitute for its long-term goal of joining NATO. He has stressed that such a guarantee could prevent future Russian aggression.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has steadfastly opposed the idea, but both officials expressed confidence that Mr. Trump could get Russia to agree to the security guarantees.

The officials added that they had reached an agreement on 90% of the issues involved. One said that long-standing territorial issues remain, but there are “multiple different solutions to bridge the gap that we are suggesting to them.”

Ukraine has insisted it will not cede territory to Russia. The officials said territorial issues can be worked out between Russia and Ukraine.

U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff and Mr. Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, are leading the talks in Berlin, which began Sunday. Mr. Witkoff and Mr. Kushner are expected to attend a dinner on Monday night with the other negotiators, and Mr. Trump was expected to call into the event, the officials said.

Working groups could meet in the U.S. during the coming weekend, possibly in Miami, the officials said. They hailed the meeting as reaching a “consensus” on a number of important issues, but did not elaborate.

“I think you’re going to hear that we have moved considerably closer in narrowing the issues between the Ukrainians and the Russians. That’s clear,” the official said.