War

One thousand three hundred and ninety-second day. The United States offered Ukraine “platinum guarantees” of security. They demand to agree to them right now

Since February 24, 2022, Meduza has been broadcasting live about the Russian-Ukrainian war. We publish your letters in our daily materials because we are sure that we need to continue talking about the war. Share with us the thoughts you have about the war. What feelings are you experiencing? How does war affect you, your life, the lives of your loved ones and your attitude towards the world? The feedback form is at the end of this article. A review of the previous day can be read here .

World

Yesterday, two days of negotiations to end the war ended in Berlin with the participation of Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky, representatives of US President Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, as well as leaders of European countries.

As American officials told reporters, the negotiations led to “clear progress” on the issue of security guarantees. As follows from their comments, these will be guarantees, including a direct military response from the United States in the event of a new Russian attack on Ukraine. “Providing guarantees like NATO's Article 5 guarantees is something President Trump believes he can get Russia to accept,” the official said.

At the same time, Politico writes , the United States has set a deadline for Ukraine - they demand that it agree to the proposals in the very near future. “These guarantees will not be discussed forever. They will be discussed right now if a mutually acceptable agreement is reached,” one of the US officials said. The publication also writes that the White House is ready to get the guarantees approved by the US Congress - in this case, they will definitely continue to apply after Trump leaves the presidency.

The Telegraph also notes that the guarantees were offered by the Americans in the format of an ultimatum - either Ukraine agrees to them now, or loses them. At the same time, the publication’s sources in the United States called them the “platinum standard” and expressed the opinion that this proposal in itself was “the biggest victory for Ukraine and for Europe to date” in peace negotiations.

An Axios source reported that Ukrainians and Europeans were “surprised” by the US willingness to offer such guarantees - and believe that Russia will agree to such a format. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said approximately the same thing in a public comment following a telephone conversation between European leaders and Trump that took place after the negotiations. “For the first time, I heard from American negotiators, and Witkoff said unequivocally that America would provide security guarantees to Ukraine in a way that would leave the Russians in no doubt that the US response would be military,” Tusk said.

At the same time, one of Politico’s anonymous interlocutors expressed the opposite position - according to him, European diplomats “are not sure that security guarantees will work without Ukraine’s membership in NATO.” “Article 5 without membership will only push Russia to test its strength,” he said.

Negotiations between Ukraine and the United States may continue over the weekend. Probably, Axios writes, this will happen in Miami “with the participation of working groups, the military, and the study of maps,” said the publication’s American source. Before this, Vladimir Zelensky said, Witkoff and Kushner will hold negotiations in Moscow.

Russia has not yet publicly responded to the results of the negotiations in Berlin. Press Secretary of the Russian President Dmitry Peskov said that Moscow has not yet seen any official texts. “We have so far seen newspaper publications; we will not react to newspaper publications,” he said.

Peskov also rejected the possibility of a ceasefire for Christmas, which is celebrated in Ukraine on December 25, an idea floated by Friedrich Merz the day before. “We want peace. We don’t want a truce to give Ukraine a break and prepare for the continuation of the war,” the Kremlin spokesman said.

War in photographs. Zaporozhye

War through the eyes of Meduza readers

How we choose letters

Meduza's readers live in different countries and have different attitudes towards the war. We publish your letters to see this event through your eyes. Our editors try to present all points of view, even if they do not coincide with the editorial position. However, in accordance with the Meduza code, we do not publish messages that contain “hate speech,” justify the murder of civilians, or express direct support for an aggressive war.

Lina (Germany) . Everyone is tired of this war. And everyone is waiting for a decision on the peace treaty. How sad it is to hear about new victims. It would seem that one step to peace - but someone did not wait for it again, people died again. The attacked country straightens its shoulders, finds new loopholes, new contacts, and does everything to continue the war. Sanctions no longer particularly bother her, she doesn’t need peace, the country has taken a war footing and is strengthening itself on it.

For whom is the peace plan more important now? He will have to give in, sooner or later. If only it weren't too late. Ukraine held on for a long time, firmly and courageously. What next? What to do now wisely and correctly? Stop the war by any means and have guarantees (but are they reliable?), or continue and [then] return to this point again, probably with new losses?

Someone at home is thinking about all this, and at the same time someone is dying at the front, someone’s house is on fire, someone’s child is wounded, someone’s dog was killed by shrapnel...

Share your thoughts about the war

"Jellyfish"