Volodymyr Zelenskyy says the US has agreed to offer “strong” security guarantees to Ukraine for 15 years, but acknowledged that the future of the country’s eastern Donbas region was unresolved after his two-hour meeting on Sunday with Donald Trump in Florida.
Speaking on his way back to Europe, Zelenskyy said the US Congress and Ukraine’s parliament would jointly vote on American pledges. These were a key part of a 20-point peace plan discussed with the US president at his Mar-a-Lago residence, he said.
The guarantees are seen by Kyiv as crucial to deter further Russian aggression in the event of a peace deal. Zelenskyy admitted that previous promises – including the US and UK-backed 1994 Budapest memorandum guaranteeing Ukraine’s borders – “did not work”.
At the very least, this publicly puts pressure on Russia. Zelensky can’t just wish the war away or tell Trump what to do, but he can play his best hand.
Let’s say that some papers do get signed and and it makes Russia have to pivot or draws in more support from NATO. Maybe a couple months later Trump roles back those protections. That’s a couple of months closer to Trump’s exit and the hope for a better future system. He’s hopefully lived to fight another day. At worst, talks devolve and the status quo remains the same.
Frankly, security assurances from the current US regime to Ukraine are very probably worth less than the paper they’re written on.
True, but the whole process can throw wrenches into Russia’s invasion and maybe be a catalyst to get other countries to step up their support as well. The US isn’t the only Western country doing wrong by Ukraine.