Work underway on dual-level security guarantees for Ukraine – Rutte
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has said that the security guarantees being developed for Ukraine will consist of two levels.
He made the statement at a joint press conference with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv, Censor.NET reports.
"President Trump has made it a top priority not only to break the deadlock in relations with Putin, but also to make it clear that the U.S. will be involved in providing security guarantees for Ukraine," Rutte said.
According to the NATO chief, these guarantees will play a critically important role.
Rutte added that the U.S. and Europe are working together to define what the future guarantees should look like. They will consist of two levels.
First level
"At the first level, there will be either a peace agreement or a ceasefire, or a combination of both. The goal is to ensure that Ukraine’s Armed Forces are as strong as possible, capable of withstanding any challenges," he explained.
Second level
"The second level is what the U.S. and Europe will provide. That’s what we’re working on. As we all know, the Budapest Memorandum and the Minsk talks did not result in real guarantees. And the new ones must not repeat those failures. We are working together — Ukraine, Europe, and the U.S. — to ensure the guarantees are strong enough that Putin, sitting in Moscow, would never even consider attacking Ukraine again," the NATO secretary general said.
As a reminder, the "Coalition of the Willing" has declared readiness to deploy support forces in Ukraine as soon as hostilities end.
The Times previously reported that European nations are considering four options for Ukraine’s security guarantees.
