US President Donald Trump said today that a deal on Ukraine has never been closer than it is now, AFP reported, quoted by BTA.
"We are closer today than we have ever been" to an agreement to end Russia's war in Ukraine, the president said in the Oval Office after talks with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky and several European leaders.
Ukraine could receive security guarantees modeled on the mutual defense commitment provided for in Article 5 of the NATO treaty, US officials said earlier today – an unprecedented proposal aimed at ending the war that began after Russia's invasion in 2022, Reuters reported.
Officials described the proposed protections, discussed during two days of talks in Berlin, as "Article 5-like," suggesting a strong commitment to Ukraine's security, even though Kiev is not a NATO member, the agency added.
Two officials, speaking to reporters in a conference call after U.S. talks with Ukrainian and European officials, said there was broad agreement on 90 percent of the issues between Ukraine and Russia. But they acknowledged that territory and sovereignty still had to be decided by the countries themselves. Ukraine has previously said it would not cede territory to Russia.
Polls in Ukraine show few Ukrainians are willing to accept territorial concessions – something that remains a key Russian condition for ending the war.
A US official said that Russia is willing to let Ukraine join the European Union and that Trump wants to prevent Russia from moving further west.
Article 5 is considered a cornerstone of the NATO defense alliance's founding treaty. It stipulates that an attack on one member of the group is considered an attack on all.