In principle, we have agreed on strong security guarantees for Ukraine, but they will not be on the table forever, they are on the table now, a senior representative of Donald Trump's administration said on Monday after the peace talks in Berlin. He noted that the guarantees will be modeled on NATO Article 5.
As representatives of the Trump administration said during a press teleconference, the talks in Berlin on Sunday and Monday brought significant progress and resulted in narrowing the differences between Russia and Ukraine. As they noted, the main topic of the talks was security guarantees and they were “in principle agreed at the working level.”
– We have a very, very strong, secure security guarantee package. We believe that the Russians will accept all the things in the final agreement that will make a strong and independent Ukraine possible, said one of the officials.
He noted that these guarantees are to be modeled on NATO's Article 5 and are to go beyond them, but he emphasized that this offer “will not be on the table forever.”
“These guarantees are on the table now if a positive agreement can be reached,” he said.
The second representative added that Ukrainians are also satisfied with the guarantee.
– Ukrainians would tell you, as Europeans would, that this is the most robust set of security protocols they have ever seen. It's a very, very strong package. “I think the Russians will hopefully look at this and say, 'Okay, because we have no intention of violating,'” he said. He added that Europeans were surprised both that Washington was confident that it could get Russia to agree to these guarantees and that President Trump was ready to have these guarantees approved by the US Senate.
The speakers stated that in talks regarding technical details, including: on the mechanisms of compliance with the provisions of the agreement, participated, among others, commander of US forces in Europe, General Alexus Grynkewich. They also added that during the talks they also communicated with “security advisers and representatives” from about 10 other countries, including Poland.
According to the speakers, Ukraine agreed in Berlin to a number of key issues from the 20-point peace plan, but several issues still remain to be finalized, including: territory and the case of the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant in Enerhodara.
– We talked about the territory issue from the very beginning. Today it's just deeper, more detailed, more solid, because discussions lead to further discussions, as if we were peeling an onion. And then we start talking about how we approach Ukrainian issues, their constitutional, legislative, electoral and referendum issues… – explained one of the officials.
When asked about next steps, Washington representatives said that part of the discussion had been delegated to the working group level. On Monday, President Trump is expected to call the participants of the Berlin talks by phone during their dinner and discuss further actions. In a conversation with officials, Trump reportedly expressed satisfaction with the results of the talks.
One of the officials also added that another working-level meeting will be planned over the weekend, probably in Miami, with the participation of “military people looking at maps.”
– We believe that we have already solved approximately 90 percent. problems between Ukraine and Russia, but there are still things that need to be worked out. And are we ready to go to Russia if necessary? Absolutely, he said.
From Washington Oskar Górzyński (PAP)
osk/mal/
