US Offers Ukraine NATO-Like Guarantee

US negotiators said Monday they offered a NATO-style promise to shield Ukraine—without saying exactly how far it would go if Russia attacks again. American officials in Berlin for the talks said they presented Ukraine with a package of security guarantees meant to underpin a future peace deal with Russia, likening the draft to NATO's Article 5 mutual-defense pledge but stopping short of any commitment to send American ground troops, the Wall Street Journal reports. The officials said the talks, which began Sunday and include Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, with Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner on the American side, have resulted in agreement on 90% of the outstanding issues.

Zelensky said Ukraine needs US help with negotiations over territory, which remains the biggest sticking point. The Trump administration has told Ukraine that any peace deal would require withdrawal of forces from the eastern Donetsk region, per Reuters. "Frankly speaking, we still have different positions," Zelensky told reporters, saying he'd like the talks with the US to continue. The emerging plan would spell out what the US and European nations would do, per the Journal, if Russia violated a settlement: weapons deliveries, intelligence and logistical support, air-power options, and other military, economic, and diplomatic measures. European negotiators agreed to the proposals, per the New York Times.

A joint document also envisions rebuilding Ukraine's forces—up to roughly 800,000 troops—and securing its airspace. "What the USA has put on the table here in Berlin … is truly remarkable," said German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. Zelensky, too, called the NATO-type provision encouraging and said problematic elements in earlier drafts had been removed. Russia is not part of the Berlin talks, but President Trump told reporters Monday that he's been talking to President Vladimir Putin. "At this moment, Russia wants to get in and the problem is they'll want to get it ended, and then all of a sudden they won't, and Ukraine will want to get it ended, and all of a sudden they won't," Trump said. "So we have to get them on the same page."