U.S. Proposes Unique Security Guarantees for Ukraine Echoing NATO’s Collective Defense Principles

The United States has put forth a proposal for security assurances for Ukraine that are akin to, yet distinct from, the collective defense commitments under NATO, as reported by Italy’s Prime Minister and a diplomatic source on Saturday.

This proposal emerged during a phone call that U.S. President Donald Trump had with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and European leaders, taking place the day after his summit with Russia’s Vladimir Putin.

«As part of the security guarantees for Ukraine, the U.S. has suggested a non-NATO variant of Article 5, which was reportedly agreed upon with Putin,» the diplomatic source disclosed to AFP, requesting anonymity.

NATO’s framework for collective security is founded on Article 5: if one member is attacked, all allies come to aid.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who participated in the call with Trump, affirmed that the U.S. president had proposed a security guarantee «inspired» by Article 5, a concept she has advocated for several months.

The proposal aims to outline a collective security agreement that allows Ukraine to receive support from all its partners, including the U.S., which would be prepared to respond if Ukraine were attacked again, Meloni stated in a press release.

In March, Meloni informed Italian senators that any response arising from such a guarantee would not necessarily trigger warfare.

She emphasized that while NATO’s Article 5 includes military action as a potential response, «it is not the sole option available.»

Ukraine has long sought NATO membership; however, Russia has cited this aspiration as one justification for its aggression toward Ukraine, and there has been some hesitance among certain Western factions regarding this membership.

Trump has consistently dismissed the idea of Ukraine joining the Western military alliance.

Prior to the joint call with Zelensky and European leaders, Trump had a separate conversation exclusively with the Ukrainian president regarding the Alaska summit that took place on Friday.

«The U.S. team presented this [joint security idea] during a discussion with President Zelensky and reiterated it in the subsequent conversation with European leaders,» the diplomatic source noted.

Another source familiar with the discussions confirmed that NATO-like security guarantees were on the table.

However, this source remarked: «It remains unclear how this would be implemented and why Putin would agree to it given his strong opposition to NATO and a clear aversion to genuine guarantees for Ukraine’s sovereignty.»

Meloni’s remarks did not indicate whether this concept had been shared with Putin.

Zelensky is set to arrive in Washington on Monday for discussions with Trump.

The second source indicated that Zelensky will address the potential structure of a summit involving Trump, Putin, and himself, as well as the roles of Kyiv’s European partners in peace negotiations, territorial issues, and security guarantees.