US proposed Nato-style joint defence guarantees for Ukraine, says Italy's premier

Straits Times

2 days ago

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Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has been proposing a security guarantee for Ukraine 'inspired' by Nato's Article 5.
KYIV – The United States has proposed security guarantees for Ukraine similar to – but separate from – the collective defence agreement between Nato member countries, according to Italy's prime minister and a diplomatic source.
The suggestion was raised during a call US President Donald Trump held with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and European leaders on Aug 16, the day after
Mr Trump's summit with Russia's Vladimir Putin .
'As one of the security guarantees for Ukraine, the American side proposed a non-Nato Article 5 type guarantee, supposedly agreed with Putin,' the diplomatic source said on condition they not be identified in any way.
Nato's collective security is based on its Article 5 principle: If one member is attacked, the entire alliance comes to its defence.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who was on the call with Mr Trump, confirmed the US president raised the idea of security guarantee 'inspired' by Article 5, which she has been pushing for several months.
The starting point for the proposal was defining a collective security clause 'that would allow Ukraine to benefit from the support of all its partners, including the US, (which would be) ready to act in case it is attacked again', Ms Meloni said in a statement.
In March, Ms Meloni told Italian senators that any such response would not necessarily involve going to war.
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She noted that, while Nato's Article 5 has the use of force as an option, 'it is not the only possible option'.
Kyiv has long aspired to join Nato, but Russia has given that as one of its reasons for its war in Ukraine, and some Western circles have expressed resistance to the idea.
Mr Trump has repeatedly ruled out Ukraine joining the Western military alliance.
Before his joint call with Mr Zelensky and European leaders, Mr Trump
spoke just with the Ukrainian president about the Alaska summit on Aug 15.
'The American side voiced this (joint security proposal) during a conversation with the president (Zelensky) and then repeated it during a joint conversation with the Europeans,' the diplomatic source said.
Another source with knowledge of the matter confirmed the Nato-like guarantees was discussed.
But that source added: 'No-one knows how this could work and why Putin would agree to it if he is categorically against Nato and obviously against really effective guarantees of Ukraine's sovereignty.'
Ms Meloni's statement made no mention of whether the idea was discussed with Mr Putin.
Mr Zelensky is due in Washington on Aug 18 for talks with Mr Trump.
The second source said Mr Zelensky is to discuss what form a possible Trump-Putin-Zelensky summit would have, the role of Kyiv's European allies in peace talks, territories and security guarantees. AFP