U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff announced that Washington and Moscow have reached an unprecedented agreement, offering Ukraine a NATO‑style Article 5 security guarantee—a historic first in the Ukraine conflict.
Decision on Security Guarantees for Ukraine
It appears that Washington and Moscow have reached an understanding on a key issue concerning Ukraine. U.S. Special Envoy for the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, announced on Sunday, August 17 that Vladimir Putin had agreed to a U.S. security guarantee for Ukraine as part of a potential peace agreement. “Yes, we managed to secure the following concession: the United States could offer Ukraine protection in a NATO Article 5 style,” he said.
Witkoff: Russians Agreed to Such Provisions for the First Time in History
As he emphasized, “for the first time we have heard that Russians agreed to include such a provision in a peace agreement.” In his view, this could respond to Vladimir Putin’s reluctance to admit Ukraine into NATO. Witkoff referred to the NATO treaty clause that states, “the parties agree that an armed attack on one or more of them in Europe or North America shall be considered an attack against them all, and therefore they agree that if such an armed attack occurs, each of them shall provide assistance to the attacked party (or parties).”
Significant Progress
According to Witkoff, this “significant progress” in Alaskan talks led Trump to abandon talks of a ceasefire in favor of immediate peace negotiations. “We are trying to agree on a peace accord that will end the fighting very, very quickly—faster than a ceasefire,” he said. The Russians, in Witkoff’s view, made concessions because they originally had even larger territorial demands—this time against five regions of Russia. President Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social about the substantial progress in the war in Ukraine, assuring that more details would arrive soon. There has been no response from the Kremlin to the Democratic administration’s interpretation of the Friday talks.
