Washington — Russia’s Vladimir Putin agreed at his summit with President Trump to allow the U.S. and its European allies to offer Ukraine a security guarantee resembling NATO’s collective defense mandate as part of an eventual deal to end the 3 1/2-year war in Ukraine, special U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff said Sunday.
“We were able to win the following concession: That the United States could offer Article 5-like protection, which is one of the real reasons why Ukraine wants to be in NATO,” he told CNN’s “State of the Union.” He added that it “was the first time we had ever heard the Russians agree to that” and called them “game-changing.”
Article 5, at the heart of the 32-member military alliance, states that an armed attack against one or more of the members shall be considered an attack against all members.
Witkoff, who had joined Secretary of State Marco Rubio for the talks Friday at a military base in Alaska, offered few details on how such an agreement would work. But it appeared to be a major shift for Putin and could serve as a workaround to his long-standing objection to Ukraine’s potential NATO membership.
Outlining some of the details about the private discussions, Witkoff also said Russia had agreed to enact a law that it would not “go after any other European countries and violate their sovereignty. And there was plenty more.”
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, speaking at a news conference in Brussels with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, applauded the move. “We welcome President Trump’s willingness to contribute to Article 5-like security guarantees for Ukraine and the ‘Coalition of the willing’ — including the European Union — is ready to do its share,” she said.
Zelenskyy thanked the United States for recent signals that Washington was willing to support such guarantees, but said much was unclear.
“It is important that America agrees to work with Europe to provide security guarantees for Ukraine,” he said, “But there are no details how it will work, and what America’s role will be, Europe’s role will be and what the EU can do, and this is our main task, we need security to work in practice like Article 5 of NATO, and we consider EU accession to be part of the security guarantees.”
Witkoff defended Mr. Trump’s decision to abandon his push that Russian agree to an immediate ceasefire, which the president had set as a benchmark going into the meeting. Witkoff said the Republican president had pivoted toward a peace deal because so much progress was made.
“We covered almost all the other issues necessary for a peace deal,” Witkoff said, without elaborating. “We began to see some moderation in the way they’re thinking about getting to a final peace deal.”
Rubio said on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” that he did not believe imposing new U.S. sanctions on Russia would force Putin to accept a ceasefire.
“If he did this now, the moment the president puts those additional sanctions, that’s the end of the talks,” Rubio said. “We want to wind up with a peace deal that ends this war so Ukraine can go on with the rest of their lives and rebuild their country and be assured that this is never going to happen again. That’s the goal here.”
Rubio said that Kyiv “is going to have to accept things, but they’re going to have to get things too.”
“For example, Ukraine is a sovereign country. They have a right, like every sovereign country does in the world, to enter into security alliances with other countries to prevent an invasion in the future, to prevent threats to their national security,” Rubio said. “That’s not an unreasonable request. That’s something that needs to be worked on.”
Mr. Trump on Sunday wrote on social media, “President Zelenskyy of Ukraine can end the war with Russia almost immediately, if he wants to, or he can continue to fight. Remember how it started. No getting back Obama given Crimea (12 years ago, without a shot being fired!), and NO GOING INTO NATO BY UKRAINE. Some things never change!!!”
Zelenskyy and European leaders, who heard from Mr. Trump after the summit, are scheduled to meet with him at the White House on Monday.
Rubio said of the talks with Russia, “I’m not saying we’re on the verge of a peace deal, but I am saying that we saw movement, enough movement to justify a follow up meeting with Zelenskyy and the Europeans, enough movement for us to dedicate even more time to this.”
Zelenskyy on Sunday night said on social media that he had arrived in Washington, D.C., for Monday’s meeting, but pushed back on the Trump administration’s comments about ceding territory to Russia.
“We all share a strong desire to end this war quickly and reliably. And peace must be lasting. Not like it was years ago, when Ukraine was forced to give up Crimea and part of our East—part of Donbas—and Putin simply used it as a springboard for a new attack,” Zelenskyy wrote, adding “Crimea should not have been given up then, just as Ukrainians did not give up Kyiv, Odesa, or Kharkiv after 2022.”
“I am confident that we will defend Ukraine, effectively guarantee security, and that our people will always be grateful to President Trump, everyone in America, and every partner and ally for their support and invaluable assistance,” Zelenskyy said. “Russia must end this war, which it itself started. And I hope that our joint strength with America, with our European friends, will force Russia into a real peace. Thank you!”