US, Europe to Work Immediately on Ukraine Security Plan

Edward Price, Non-Resident Senior Fellow at NYU, discusses the latest on Russia and Ukraine as US President Trump urges a meeting between the two leaders and Europe works to bolster Ukraine's military.

US and European officials started work on bolstering Ukraine’s military, part of a package of security guarantees that will open a path to a landmark meeting between presidents Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

The guarantees, which will be fleshed out by military and intelligence officials, are aimed at allowing Ukraine to boost troop numbers without limitations, according to people familiar with the matter, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private deliberations.

The aim is to avoid Russia demanding restrictions on the size of Kyiv’s military as part of a future agreement to end the war.

A White House summit between President Donald Trump, Zelenskiy and several European leaders on Monday yielded a clearer commitment from the US administration to help guarantee Ukraine’s security. Those talks allayed concerns in Kyiv and Europe for now that the US leader had tacked toward Moscow after talks with Putin in Alaska.

“During the meeting we discussed Security Guarantees for Ukraine, which Guarantees would be provided by the various European Countries, with a coordination with the United States of America,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.

European Union leaders are due to be briefed remotely on Tuesday on the outcome of the talks in Washington.

A package of security guarantees would also build on the work of the so-called coalition of the willing, a European group led by the UK and France, and is expected to include a multinational force in the future, said the people. Its format is yet to be defined, they said.

Leaders showed broad support for “Article 5-like” guarantees – a reference to NATO’s mutual defense clause and a formula originally proposed by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni – at Monday’s meeting, the people said. They cautioned that the exact details and the US role in the potential arrangement will have to be first worked out by officials.

Much remains elusive. A European official cautioned that Putin still scored a major win over the last week in avoiding fresh US sanctions. And a risk remains that Trump can blame Zelenskiy and the Europeans should an impasse emerge in the coming weeks, the person said.

But if Trump follows through with his pledge on guarantees, Putin may be forced to break his red lines or risk a rupture with Trump, the person said.

Much of the effort, including the purchase of weapons, is expected to rest on Europe’s shoulders.

Trump and a core group of European leaders are likely to hold a call in the near future to track their officials’ progress and agree on further details, said the people.

The US president told reporters Monday that “the European nations are going to take a lot of the burden” and the US would “help them and we’re going to make it very secure.”

Russia’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement it wouldn’t accept troops from NATO countries in Ukraine.

Trump’s special envoy to Russia, Steve Witkoff, said on Sunday that Moscow was open to Ukraine receiving guarantees, including Article 5-like language, from the US and other nations.

Any agreement would stop short of NATO membership for Ukraine, which remains a red line in Moscow and has been ruled out by several members, including the US. The Kremlin has proposed guarantees in the past that would be designed in such a way as to be ineffective, for example by giving Russia a veto.

Trump called Putin after the White House gathering and urged the Russian president to start making arrangements for a meeting with Zelenskiy at a location to be determined.

“After that meeting takes place, we will have a Trilat, which would be the two Presidents, plus myself,” he said.

It’s unclear whether the Russian leader will agree to such a meeting. Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov said only that Trump and Putin had discussed the idea.

--------

Watch Bloomberg Radio LIVE on YouTube

Weekdays 7am-6pm ET

Follow us on X

Subscribe to our Podcasts:

Bloomberg Daybreak

Bloomberg Surveillance

Bloomberg Intelligence

Balance of Power

Bloomberg Businessweek

Listen on Apple CarPlay and Android Auto with the Bloomberg Business app:

Apple CarPlay

Android Auto

Visit our YouTube channels:

Bloomberg Podcasts

Bloomberg Television

Bloomberg Originals