Secretary of State Marco Rubio has told European allies that the US wants a peace deal before it will agree to any security guarantees for Ukraine.
According to a European diplomat and a person familiar with the talks, this situation strengthened American proposals made to Kiev over the past week. Rubio, during a call with European officials on Tuesday, argued that President Donald Trump would later negotiate long-term security guarantees for Ukraine, which they said would make Kyiv feel safe.
Ukrainian leaders have embraced Western security guarantees as the foundation of any viable deal with Russia, even as NATO members have struggled to figure out how to support the war-stricken country, both militarily and intelligence-wise.
Trump said he would not invite the Ukrainian leader to the White House until the agreement was signed.
War in Ukraine. Marco Rubio talks about security guarantees
According to another European diplomat, who like others was granted anonymity to discuss sensitive issues, Rubio mentioned security assurances for Ukraine during negotiations in Geneva last weekend, but did not go into details and did not repeat the offer during the call with the British and French.
The Secretary-General also mentioned in general some other issues that should be discussed after the conclusion of the agreement. According to the second diplomat, Europeans perceived this as a matter of Ukraine's territorial integrity and the freezing of Russian assets. The White House stressed that the final peace plan would include security guarantees.
“The Trump administration has repeatedly reaffirmed, publicly and privately, that any agreement must provide Ukraine with full security and deterrence guarantees,” spokeswoman Anna Kelly said. The president's national security team continues to work with both sides to end this conflict and ensure a lasting, enforceable peace.”
The State Department did not respond to a request for comment.
Initial US peace proposals regarding the conflict, which appeared last week, assumed limiting the size of Ukraine's army to 600,000. soldiers, without imposing any restrictions on the size of Russian forces. Rubio and other U.S. officials then defended the 28-point plan as a starting point rather than a full-fledged proposal.
However, the Trump administration is increasingly moving away from full support for Ukraine in favor of a more neutral stance in the talks. Rubio told his European counterparts on Thursday that the United States is not seen as a fair mediator in the talks because it provides both U.S. military aid to Ukraine and imposes sanctions on Russia, according to two European diplomats.
Donald Trump under pressure from Congress
But the Trump administration faces pressure — even from Republicans in Congress — to provide strong guarantees to Ukraine that will prevent another Russian invasion.
— If Ukraine must give up any territory, it must do so within the framework of security agreements with NATO and the United States, such as Art. 5, because that is the only way to prevent Russia from doing the same thing again, said Rep. Don Bacon (Republican from Nebraska), referring to the provision that requires NATO countries to defend each other in the event of an attack. “That is the ultimate goal of any agreement.”
The United States transferred almost $67 billion to Ukraine. military aid since Russia fully invaded the country in February 2022, though most of that funding came from the Biden administration. Since then, the United States has developed a NATO plan under which individual European countries can buy American weapons for Ukraine. The European Union is also trying to use frozen Russian assets to provide further aid. One Ukrainian official said he saw no sign that the Trump administration was willing to increase aid. France and Britain have largely taken the lead in the 33-nation “coalition of the willing” that is considering sending European troops to Ukraine.
However, some European countries fear that the Trump administration will tip the scales in Russia's favor.
“Nothing about human rights, humanitarian law, international law or principles,” said a third European diplomat, referring to the peace plans. — This creates a new European security architecture full of holes, he emphasized.
