U.S. and Europe plan major boost to Ukraine’s military under new security guarantees – NYT

This was reported by The New York Times, citing officials familiar with draft documents, according to Ukrinform.

According to the report, American and European diplomats meeting with Ukraine’s leaders over the past two days in Berlin have mostly agreed on two documents outlining future security guarantees. They are designed to serve as the cornerstone of a broader agreement aimed at achieving a ceasefire and ending the war. The documents are also intended to persuade Ukraine to concede certain territories as part of a peace deal and to give up on formal accession to NATO.

At the same time, the NYT notes that a full ceasefire remains out of reach for now, as Russia is not a party to these talks and has shown no willingness to compromise.

The outlet reports that discussions of the security documents lasted more than eight hours and involved leaders and officials from around a dozen European countries, including France, Germany, Italy, and the United Kingdom.

One of the documents lays out broad principles which, according to American and European diplomats, are similar in substance to NATO’s Article 5 guarantee.

The second document details how U.S. and European forces would cooperate with the Armed Forces of Ukraine to prevent new attempts by Russia to seize Ukrainian territory. According to one U.S. official, it is “very specific” about how to deter further incursions and punish Russia if they occur.

A key element of the plan is bringing the size of Ukraine’s military to a “peacetime level” of 800,000 troops, with up-to-date training and equipment.

The documents also provide for the creation of a Europe-led military mission that would operate on Ukrainian territory to secure the skies and seas. Those troops are expected to be deployed in western Ukraine, far from a potential ceasefire line.

The initiative to deploy European forces is being coordinated by France and the United Kingdom within the framework of the “Coalition of the Willing.” The United States is prepared to provide “cease-fire monitoring and verification mechanism with international participation to provide early warning of any future attack.”

One of the main concerns of the Ukrainian side remains the risk of a repeat of the 1994 Budapest Memorandum scenario. American and European officials assure that the new security guarantees are to be legally binding and will undergo national ratification procedures.

As reported by Ukrinform, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited Germany, where several rounds of talks with the U.S. delegation on ending the war took place.

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