‘We are clear that Ukraine must have ironclad security guarantees’: European leaders back Trump's decision on Kiev

U.S. President Donald Trump has signaled to European leaders his willingness to offer security assurances to Ukraine as part of a possible peace deal to end the conflict with Russia, according to several European officials, as reported by The Wall Street Journal.

This change in his stance marks a significant shift from his previous reluctance to engage the United States in a guarantor role for Kiev amid negotiations to resolve the four-year-long war in Ukraine.

Following his recent summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Anchorage, Alaska, Trump communicated to European leaders in a call from Air Force One that Putin was unwilling to cease hostilities during peace talks.

In addition, according to four European officials, Putin insisted that Ukraine must cede territories in the east of the country, particularly in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, in exchange for freezing the front lines in other areas. However, Trump claimed that Putin agreed that any peace deal would require the presence of Western troops in Ukraine to ensure its durability.

A change in Trump's stance

For months, Trump had rejected requests by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for the United States to assume a security guarantor role, fearing involvement of his country in a foreign conflict. However, in the call with European leaders, Trump indicated that guarantees could include U.S. military support for a European-led security force in Ukraine, although he did not commit to deploying U.S. troops on the ground.

According to three officials quoted by WSJ, these guarantees would cover bilateral security commitments, as well as financial and military support to the Ukrainian military from a coalition of Western countries, including the United States.

Trump's move comes after a huge February discussion with Zelensky in the Oval Office, where the Ukrainian leader insisted on the need for U.S. security guarantees to protect Ukraine against future Russian aggression, and along those lines, Kiev has long argued that such guarantees are essential to any sustainable peace deal.

Reactions from Europe

European leaders, including those of Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Poland, Italy, Finland and European Union (E.U.) institutions, issued a joint statement on Saturday welcoming Trump's readiness to offer security guarantees. "We are clear that Ukraine must have ironclad security guarantees to effectively defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity," they said, stressing that any diplomatic solution must include Ukraine and protect Europe's security interests.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni proposed a security guarantee inspired by NATO Article 5, which provides for collective defense as a mechanism to protect Ukraine without its formal membership in the alliance. This idea was discussed during the call with Trump, although no details about its implementation have been disclosed.

The Alaska summit

The Alaska summit between Trump and Putin, held at the Elmendorf-Richardson military base, failed to make concrete progress toward a ceasefire, despite Washington's initial expectations that Moscow was willing to accept a temporary pause in hostilities, although they did manage to make a first step.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump wrote: "It was determined by all that the best way to end the horrific war between Russia and Ukraine is to go directly to a Peace Agreement, which would end the war, and not a mere Ceasefire Agreement, which often times do not hold up."

Putin stated in Moscow that the summit with Trump was "well," noting that they discussed the "root causes" of the conflict, (a term the Kremlin uses to refer to Ukraine's integration with the West and its aspirations to join NATO).