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US vows 15-year security guarantee to Ukraine; Zelensky calls for 50 years to ‘deter’ Russia
Zelensky said security guarantees approved by the US Congress would offer Ukraine meaningful protection.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he has asked Donald Trump to provide US security guarantees lasting as long as 50 years, arguing that only long-term commitments would effectively deter any future Russian invasion.
Speaking in an audio message to reporters on Monday, Zelensky said current proposals discussed as part of a peace plan envisage a 15-year guarantee with the option of extension, but stressed that this fell short of Kyiv’s expectations. “I would like the guarantee to be much longer,” he said. “We would like to consider the possibility of 30, 40, 50 years and then it will be a historic decision by Trump.”
Zelensky said security guarantees approved by the US Congress, combined with pledges from countries in the so-called Coalition of the Willing, would offer Ukraine meaningful protection. He added that European Union membership would also form part of the broader security framework.
“Monitoring the ceasefire — our partners will provide it, technical monitoring and presence. All these details will be in the security guarantees,” he said, adding that both negotiating teams agreed on the need for “strong” US security guarantees.
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Major issue remains unsolved
The remarks followed talks between Zelensky and Trump at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida on Sunday.
While Trump said “a lot of progress” had been made toward ending Russia’s nearly four-year full-scale war on Ukraine, both leaders acknowledged that major issues remained unresolved.
Among them were the status of territories in eastern Ukraine and the future of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which is currently occupied by Russian forces. Zelensky said no agreement was reached on Russian President Vladimir Putin’s demand that Ukraine withdraw from the Donbas region, parts of which are held by Moscow’s troops.
He also pointed to a lack of clarity around US proposals for a demilitarised or free economic zone in eastern Ukraine, including who would control such territory.
Trump said he was confident a deal was “getting a lot closer,” though he cautioned that talks could take a few more weeks and that there was no fixed timeline. Zelensky, meanwhile, said on Sunday that the peace plan was “90% agreed.”
Trump's ‘very productive’ phone talks with Putin
Trump also said he had held “very productive” phone talks with Putin shortly before meeting Zelensky, and that the US and Ukrainian presidents later spoke with European leaders. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin and Trump would hold another phone call “very soon.”
Ahead of that call, Putin on Monday held his seventh televised meeting with Russia’s military command since October, highlighting what he described as battlefield advances in Ukraine and instructing his forces to continue efforts to seize more territory.
Ukraine is seeking a meeting with European partners and Trump in January, Zelensky said, followed by a separate meeting with Russian officials “in one format or another.”
French President Emmanuel Macron said the Coalition of the Willing would meet in early January to discuss continued support for Ukraine.
After nearly a year of US-led efforts failed to secure a breakthrough, Trump has said he would only meet the Ukrainian and Russian leaders again if an agreement were close. So far, negotiations have largely been conducted through his envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner.
