US offering Ukraine 15-year security guarantee as part of peace plan – Zelenskyy
Volodymyr Zelenskyy Picture: Alex Brandon/AP
The US is offering Ukrainesecurity guarantees for 15 years as part of a proposed peace plan, Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said.
The Ukrainian president said he would prefer a commitment of up to 50 years to deter Russia from further attempts to seize its neighbour’s land by force.
US President Donald Trump hosted Mr Zelenskyy at his Florida resort on Sunday and claimed Ukraine and Russia were “closer than ever before” to a peace settlement.
Negotiators are still searching for a breakthrough on key issues, including whose forces withdraw from where and the fate of the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, one of the 10 biggest in the world.
Mr Trump noted that the months-long US-led negotiations could still collapse.
“Without security guarantees, realistically, this war will not end,” Mr Zelenskyy told reporters.
Ukraine has been fighting Russia since 2014, when Moscow illegally annexed Crimea and Kremlin-backed separatists took up arms in the Donbas, a vital industrial region in eastern Ukraine.
Details of the security guarantees have not been made public, but Mr Zelenskyy said on Monday that they include how a peace deal would be monitored as well as the “presence” of partners.
He didn't elaborate, but Russia has said it will not accept the deployment in Ukraine of troops from Nato countries.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday that Russian President Vladimir Putin and Mr Trump were expected to speak in the near future, but there was no indication the Russian leader would speak to Mr Zelenskyy.
French President Emmanuel Macron said Kyiv’s allies will meet in Paris in early January to “finalise each country’s concrete contributions” to the security guarantees.
Mr Trump said he would consider extending US security guarantees for Ukraine beyond 15 years, according to Mr Zelenskyy. The guarantees would be approved by the US Congress as well as by parliaments in other countries involved in overseeing any settlement, he added.
Mr Zelenskyy said he wants the 20-point peace plan under discussion to be approved by Ukrainians in a national referendum.
However, holding a ballot requires a ceasefire of at least 60 days, and Moscow has shown no willingness for a truce without a full settlement.
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