Military, NATO backing, sanctions — Zelensky outlines 3 key pillars for Ukraine's security guarantees
Security guarantees for Ukraine should include provisions related to army funding, agreements with NATO members, and sanctions against Russia, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Aug. 29.
Ukrainian, U.S., and European officials have been leading talks on postwar security guarantees for Kyiv in an effort to prepare for a possible peace deal with Russia. Some plans floated have included an allied peacekeeping force on the ground backed by U.S. air support.
When asked by journalists about his vision for security guarantees, Zelensky outlined three key pillars.
The first concerns the Ukrainian Armed Forces, namely, maintaining their existing strength and size and ensuring consistent arms supplies from Ukrainian, European, and U.S. manufacturers.
“(It’s about) the ability to fund the army at the scale needed to defend our borders today,” Zelensky said.
The second pillar involves agreements with NATO member states on their readiness to support Ukraine in the event of renewed Russian aggression, Zelensky said. According to the president, he is planning to discuss NATO-like security guarantees with European partners next week.
While Ukraine applied for full NATO membership at the start of the Russian full-scale invasion in 2022, the allies have not extended a formal invitation, and the Trump administration opposes accepting Kyiv into the alliance.
The third pillar concerns sanctions against Russia and the use of frozen Russian assets to fund Ukraine’s post-war reconstruction.
The Western countries and other partners have immobilized roughly $300 billion in Russian sovereign assets after the outbreak of the full-scale war, funneling profits generated by them to Ukraine.
Separately, Zelensky also highlighted Ukraine’s path toward membership in the European Union as another security guarantee for Kyiv.
Presidential Office Chief of Staff Andriy Yermak and Defense Council Secretary Rustem Umerov are heading to New York this week to discuss security guarantees and future peace talks.
Russia has voiced its opposition to the idea of foreign peacekeeping troops in Ukraine. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said stationing European soldiers in Ukraine would amount to "foreign military intervention" and said that security guarantees for Ukraine cannot be discussed without Russia's participation.
