Steve Witkoff Applauds ‘Game-Changing’ Security Guarantee for Ukraine

The American special envoy, Steve Witkoff, said on Sunday that Russian president Vladimir Putin said that he was open in the United States by granting a security guarantee with Ukraine resembling article 5 of the Organization of the Treaty (NATO) (NATO) of the Northern Atlantic Organization.

“We were able to win the following concession: that the United States could offer type 5 protection, which is one of the real reasons why Ukraine wants to be in NATO,” Witkoff told Jake Tapper of CNN, adding that it was “the first time we had heard that the Russians agreed.”

Nowsweek Sunday afternoon by submission to the United States Department of State.

Why it matters

President Donald Trump and Putin met in Alaska on Friday to discuss the war in the current war in Ukraine and what Russia would need to end his assault.

Critics hit Trump for providing Putin a red carpet treatment in exchange for people apparently few concessions, including a military fly, a gift to the Russian chief and a joint driving in Trump’s armored limousine. Putin is a man sought after with a mandate for his arrest by the International Criminal Court (ICC), although neither the United States nor Russia is signatories of the statutes of Rome.

The meeting ended without any agreement on a ceasefire or a peace contract, but Trump officials spoke of any concessions made by the Russians, although the details did not start to surface before Sunday.

What to know

After the Alaska summit, the only information on the surface indicated that land exchanges had been discussed, to the great frustration of Ukrainian supporters and allies. Trump told European leaders that he had supported a plan in which Ukraine would give in the territory he still controlled in Russia, The New York Times reported, citing two European European officials.

However, Witkoff said on Sunday that the Russians had accepted a concession “which changes the situation”, which would allow the United States to establish modeled security guarantees after the protections of article 5 of NATO, which indicates that an attack on any member of NATO is an attack on all NATO members – also known as the Collective Defense Clause.

“I do not know that we have time now to go through all the different problems of these five regions,” said Witkoff when asked if Ukraine should abandon the entire Donbas region in Russia.

He added: “The Russians have made some concessions to the table with regard to these five regions. There is an important discussion to have with Donetsk and what would happen there. And this discussion will be specifically detailed on Monday when [Ukrainian] President [Volodymyr] Zelensky arrives with his delegation. “”

One of Putin’s fears is that Ukraine becomes a member of NATO, further expanding the American and European imprint along the Russia border.

Witkoff said on Sunday that Russia had agreed to promulgate a law that it would not “take other European countries and violate their sovereignty. And there were much more”.

The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, applauded this decision, saying that Europe was “ready to do its part” to contribute to the guarantee of collective defense.

Several European leaders will participate in a meeting between Trump and Zelensky this week, which will precede a possible trilateral meeting between Trump, Zelensky and Putin. The trilateral meeting is always a distant possibility, but Trump has established a soft deadline for the end of the month to organize it.

What people say

The American special envoy Steve Witkoff during his appearance on CNN State of the Union: “My opinion is that we are going [do] A trilateral, and what we are trying to accomplish on Monday is to receive a consensus from President Zelensky and his team. We had a very good specific and granular conversation on the plane to go home with President Zelensky on what he would look for, and we do not think there are obstacles in this conversation that we heard, and therefore I hope that we have a productive meeting on Monday, we make a real consensus. “”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote last week on X: “On the day of negotiations, the Russians also kill.

What happens next?

Zelensky and some European leaders will meet Trump on Monday to discuss his requirements for a peace agreement in the aftermath of Trump’s meeting with Putin.

This article includes the reports of the Associated Press.