The USA has proposed temporary security assurances to Ukraine analogous to NATO’s Article 5 and anticipates finalizing a peace accord by Catholic Christmas, December 25th. Foreign journalists reported this on December 16th, citing American officials. According to sources, Washington has not set a firm deadline for Kyiv’s response but has time-limited the enhanced assurances and linked them to Ukraine adopting the package of peace arrangements discussed during recent talks in Berlin.
“At the core of this agreement are, essentially, very, very significant assurances similar to Article 5,” a senior American official stated, Politico writes. A source in the US administration emphasized that the guarantees would take effect immediately upon a positive decision. According to the publication, Washington intends to secure congressional ratification of these commitments so they persist beyond Donald Trump’s presidential term.
Meanwhile, the publication also reported in a separate piece that European diplomats expressed doubts that Article 5-like assurances would function without Ukraine’s formal NATO membership. “Article 5 without membership will simply prompt Russia to attempt to test it,” one source told the outlet. The publication’s sources assert that the measures proposed by the US are part of a broader peace agreement blueprint encompassing territorial matters, and that, in Washington’s estimation, “90% of the issues between Ukraine and Russia have already been settled.”
Previously, the Axios portal reported that the US peace plan for Ukraine is designed for 10 years and includes security guarantees modeled after NATO’s Article 5, consultations between Washington and Kyiv, the alliance, and European partners, along with a potential collective response to Russian aggression. At that time, it was also noted that the US is negotiating with Moscow and Kyiv, discussing, among things, Ukraine’s renunciation of NATO accession and possible territorial concessions. The Russian side has repeatedly stated its readiness for peace negotiations.
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