Trump says deal on Ukraine closer than ever, Europe proposes peacekeeping forces

(Patria) - US President Donald Trump stated on Monday that a deal to end Russia's war in Ukraine is closer than ever, as European leaders proposed "multinational forces" to implement a potential peace agreement, AFP reported last night.

The optimistic statements came as key powers met in Berlin with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to push efforts to end the war – although Russia has not yet reacted to the latest proposals.
"I think we are closer than ever before," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, adding that he had "very long and very good conversations" with Zelenskyy and others, including the leaders of Great Britain, France, Germany, and NATO.

European leaders, in a joint statement at the talks in Berlin, proposed forces as part of "strong security guarantees" backed by the US, aimed at ensuring Russia does not violate a deal to end the war, which began with Moscow's invasion in 2022.

Zelenskyy had earlier stated that talks with Trump's envoys "were not easy" but had brought "progress" on security guarantees.

He met for the second consecutive day with Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff and the president's son-in-law Jared Kushner for talks aimed at ending the war, building on a proposal originally put forward by Trump.

Zelenskyy welcomed the new security guarantees offered by Washington, but also said there were still differences regarding which territories Ukraine would have to cede to Russia.

"There has been enough dialogue on that territory and I think, frankly speaking, we still have different views," Zelenskyy told reporters.

US Security Guarantees

Optimistic German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said the talks had created "a chance for a real peace process" and praised the US for offering "significant" security guarantees.

The European statement, whose signatories included the leaders of the United Kingdom, France, and Germany, also outlined what had been other points of agreement between European leaders and US officials.

The Ukrainian army was to continue receiving extensive support and maintain a peacetime force of 800,000 soldiers.

Peace would also be maintained by a "US-led ceasefire monitoring and verification mechanism" that would identify violations and "provide early warning of any future attack".

US officials warned Kyiv that it must accept a deal that they said would provide security guarantees in line with NATO's Article Five – an attack on one ally is an attack on all.

"The basis of that agreement is basically to have really, really strong guarantees, similar to Article Five, also very, very strong deterrence" in the size of the Ukrainian army, a US official said on condition of anonymity.

"Those guarantees will not be on the table forever. Those guarantees are on the table right now if a good conclusion is reached," he said.

Trump had previously ruled out Ukraine's formal entry into NATO and sided with Russia, calling Kyiv's aspirations towards the alliance the reason for Moscow's full-scale invasion.

Merz said that "significant legal and material security guarantees" from the United States were "truly extraordinary" and "a very important step forward".

Criminal Attack

Zelenskyy, on talks with the US side, said "these talks are always not easy" but that it had been a "productive conversation".

An official previously briefed on the US-Ukraine talks told AFP that US negotiators still wanted Ukraine to cede control of eastern Donbas – comprising the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
Moscow controls almost all of Luhansk and about eighty percent of the Donetsk region, according to the US Institute for the Study of War.

Russian President Vladimir Putin "wants territory," the official said, adding that the United States demanded that Ukraine "withdraw" from the regions, a demand Kyiv rejected.

One of the US officials admitted that no agreement had been reached on territory.
Trump had deemed it inevitable that Ukraine would have to cede territory to Russia, an outcome unacceptable to Zelenskyy.

Meanwhile, Russia has signaled it will insist on its core demands, including territorial claims and demands that Ukraine never join NATO.

Moscow had previously opposed any European-led forces in Ukraine to oversee a peace deal. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday that Russia expected the US to "provide the concept being discussed today in Berlin".