<figure id="attachment_2889918" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-2889918" style="width: 1600px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-2889918" src="https://media.freemalaysiatoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/6ab04875-nato.jpg" alt="Nato" width="1600" height="1000" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-2889918" class="wp-caption-text">Nato&#8217;s collective security is based on its Article 5 principle. (AFP pic)</figcaption></figure>
KYIV: The US has proposed security guarantees for Ukraine similar to – but separate from – the collective defence agreement between Nato member countries, Italy&#8217;s premier and a diplomatic source said today.
The suggestion was raised during a call US President Donald Trump held with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and European leaders today, the day after Trump&#8217;s summit with Russia&#8217;s Vladimir Putin.
&#8220;As one of the security guarantees for Ukraine, the American side proposed a non-Nato Article 5 type guarantee, supposedly agreed with Putin,&#8221; the diplomatic source told AFP on condition they not be identified in any way.
Nato&#8217;s collective security is based on its Article 5 principle: if one member is attacked, the entire alliance comes to its defence.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who was on the call with Trump, confirmed the US president had raised the idea of security guarantee &#8220;inspired&#8221; by Article 5, which she has been pushing for several months.
The starting point for the proposal was defining a collective security clause &#8220;that would allow Ukraine to benefit from the support of all its partners, including the US, (which would be) ready to act in case it is attacked again&#8221;, Meloni said in a statement.
In March, Meloni told Italian senators that any such response would not necessarily involve going to war.
She noted that, while Nato&#8217;s Article 5 has the use of force as an option, &#8220;it is not the only possible option&#8221;.
Kyiv has long aspired to join Nato – but Russia has given that as one of its reasons for its war in Ukraine, and some western circles have expressed resistance to the idea.
Trump has repeatedly ruled out Ukraine joining the western military alliance.
Before his joint call with Zelensky and European leaders, Trump spoke just with the Ukrainian president about yesterday&#8217;s Alaska summit.
&#8220;The American side voiced this (joint security proposal) during a conversation with the president (Zelensky) and then repeated it during a joint conversation with the Europeans,&#8221; the diplomatic source said.
Another source with knowledge of the matter confirmed the Nato-like guarantees had been discussed.
But that source added: &#8220;No one knows how this could work and why Putin would agree to it if he is categorically against Nato and obviously against really effective guarantees of Ukraine&#8217;s sovereignty.&#8221;
Meloni&#8217;s statement made no mention of whether the idea had been discussed with Putin.
Zelensky is due in Washington on Monday for talks with Trump.
The second source told AFP that Zelensky is to discuss what form a possible Trump-Putin-Zelensky summit would have, the role of Kyiv&#8217;s European allies in peace talks, territories, and security guarantees.

MatchPoint Times

US propose Nato-style joint defence guarantees for Kyiv

The suggestion was raised during a call between president Donald Trump and Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky.

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