Trump proposes NATO ‘Article 5-type’ security guarantees for Ukraine: Report

ISTANBUL

US President Donald Trump proposed security guarantees for Ukraine similar to NATO’s Article 5 during a phone conversation with European officials following his summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska, media reports said Saturday.

CNN reported, citing an unnamed European official, that discussions held during the phone call held after the Trump-Putin summit at Joint Base Elmendorf–Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska's largest city, a day prior involved “Article 5-type” security guarantees for Ukraine in the event of a peace agreement between Moscow and Kyiv, supported by Europe and Washington, DC.

The report indicated that the European official said NATO would not be involved in the guarantees, adding that the details on the proposal and its implementation are unknown.

The RBC-Ukraine news agency also confirmed that the issue was raised during the call, citing an unnamed source, who reported that the guarantees concerned “collective defense” outside of NATO itself.

Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty provides that an armed attack on a NATO ally will be considered an attack against all members of the military alliance.

Trump and European leaders, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, held a phone call after the Alaska summit on Friday, which marked the first meeting between sitting American and Russian leaders since the start of the Ukraine war on Feb. 24, 2022.

Putin said during a press conference following the summit that he and the US president had come to reach an "understanding." Trump, for his part, said they made "some headway" but acknowledged they did not reach an agreement to end the ongoing armed conflict.

In a statement on the US social media company X early Saturday, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha expressed Kyiv’s gratitude to Washington, DC, for its “engagement and continued commitment” to supporting the country and "advancing peace."

“We value the American side’s positive signals regarding its willingness to work on developing reliable security guarantees (and) infrastructure for Ukraine,” he added.

ISTANBUL

The report indicated that the European official said NATO would not be involved in the guarantees, adding that the details on the proposal and its implementation are unknown.

Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty provides that an armed attack on a NATO ally will be considered an attack against all members of the military alliance.

“We value the American side’s positive signals regarding its willingness to work on developing reliable security guarantees (and) infrastructure for Ukraine,” he added.