The bilateral document on Washington’s security guarantees for Ukraine is now “essentially ready” to be finalised and approved by US President Donald Trump, his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Thursday.
Following the meeting of the “Coalition of the Willing” and US envoys in Paris on Tuesday, Ukraine’s president said it is important for Kyiv to “successfully unite” the effects of both the European and American teams.
“Complex issues from the basic framework for ending the war were also addressed, and the Ukrainian side presented possible options for finalizing this document,” Zelenskyy said.
“We understand that the American side will engage with Russia, and we expect feedback on whether the aggressor is genuinely willing to end the war.”
After the leaders’ meeting on Tuesday, negotiating teams from Kyiv and Washington stayed in the French capital for further talks to address what Zelenskyy described as the “most difficult issues” in the peace process, including potential territorial concessions.
Speaking with the reporters on WhatsApp on Wednesday, Zelenskyy said the US representatives are “definitely negotiating with the Russians, discussing various options.”
“Russia is turning up its nose for now. But our partners are strong enough. Some of them are particularly capable of turning things around if they want to,” he explained.
Zelenskyy then added on Thursday that Kyiv is informing Ukraine’s partners about the consequences of Russia’s aerial strikes, which left two regions of Ukraine and at least 1 million people without electricity and water.
Zelenskyy said Russia’s attacks “clearly don’t indicate that Moscow is reconsidering its priorities”.
“In this context, it is necessary that pressure on Russia continues to increase at the same intensity as the work of our negotiating teams,” he added.
“The feasibility of future security guarantees must be proven by our partners’ ability to exert effective pressure on the aggressor at this very stage. We are preparing new relevant contacts with partners.”
Moscow calls Kyiv and its allies ‘axis of war’
The security guarantees for Ukraine discussed by the “Coalition of the Willing” and the United States in Paris earlier this week include a high-tech mechanism to monitor a ceasefire, a multinational force led by France and the UK, and a legally binding obligation to assist Kyiv in case of a future Russian attack.
The obligation, which appears to be modelled on NATO Article 5 for collective defence, could include military aid, as well as logistical, economic and diplomatic support.
Critically, it would require ratification by national parliaments. In the United States, it would go through Congress for approval.
Moscow slammed this plan on Thursday, describing the European peacekeepers’ deployment as “dangerous” and dubbing Kyiv and its allies an “axis of war”.
In what appears to be the first official reaction to the Paris meeting, Russia’s foreign ministry spokesperson said the talks’ conclusions and statements were far from anything Moscow could possibly accept.
“The new militarist declarations of the so-called Coalition of the Willing and the Kyiv regime together form a genuine ‘axis of war,” Maria Zakharova said in a statement, calling the plans “dangerous” and “destructive”.
She also stated claimed that the deployment of military units, military facilities, warehouses and other infrastructure of Western countries on the territory of Ukraine will be classified by Moscow as “foreign intervention”, amid Russia’s own unprovoked full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Zakharova threatened the European peacekeeping force in Ukraine, calling the allies’ troops a “legitimate target” for Russia.
“All such units and facilities will be considered legitimate military targets for the Russian Armed Forces,” Zakharova said, repeating a threat previously issued by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Speaking with reporters via WhatsApp on Wednesday, Zelenskyy did not reveal the composition of the future peacekeeping force but stated that “in principle, all the details have been agreed between the countries.”
