Putin has agreed to a Nato-style defence guarantee for Ukraine

[Phil C. McNasty]

This is a major concession by Putin.
Putin has agreed to a Nato-style defence guarantee for Ukraine in return for some land.
If talks dont break down it looks like we might get a peace deal

Russia-Ukraine latest: Starmer to meet with Trump and Zelensky in Washington

The US must provide air, land and sea security guarantees, Volodymyr Zelensky has said, as he prepares for showdown talks with Donald Trump in the White House on Monday.

www.telegraph.co.uk

The US must provide air, land and sea security guarantees, Volodymyr Zelensky has said, as he prepares for showdown talks with Donald Trump in the White House on Monday. Speaking after a meeting of the so-called ‘Coalition of the Willing,’ the Ukrainian President said security guarantees “must be truly very practical and provide protection on land, in the air, and at sea.”

The US is understood to have offered a Nato-style collective defence guarantee for Ukraine, which special envoy Steve Witkoff described as “game-changing”.

Nato’s Article 5 states that an armed attack against one or more of its members should be considered an attack on all.
Ukraine would be able to enjoy a guarantee resembling this clause without becoming an official member of the bloc.

Mr Witkoff today confirmed that Vladimir Putin had agreed to the guarantee at talks in Alaska, saying it was “the first time we had ever heard the Russians agree to that.” Mr Zelensky also said today at a press conference preceding the meeting that key issues such as territory had to be discussed with Ukraine’s participation in a trilateral format: Ukraine, the US and Russia.

Putin has not yet publicly agreed to any three-way talks, though Axios previously reported that Mr Trump was keen to meet with the Ukrainian and Russian leaders as soon as Aug 22.

 

[oil&gas]

The US must provide air, land and sea security guarantees, Volodymyr Zelensky has said, as he prepares for showdown talks with Donald Trump in the White House on Monday.

Donald Trump would want profits guaranteed for U.S. weapon sales to Europe
and the mineral deal with Zelenskyy to be honored first.

Hopefully everyone will be happy after the war ends. U.S. military industrial
complex as well as Sweden's weapons and ammunition manufacturers will
rake in big bucks; And Europe will be thrilled to safeguard security of Ukraine
perpetually.

 

[oil&gas]

European, NATO leaders to present united front with Zelensky in Trump meeting

The meeting follows President Donald Trump’s summit with Russia’s Vladimir Putin in Alaska, after which Trump told allies that Putin wanted Ukraine’s Donbas.

August 17, 2025


By David L. Stern, Anastacia Galouchka and Catherine Belton

KYIV — European leaders will join Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky when he meets with President Donald Trump in Washington on Monday, presenting a united front to help Zelensky navigate what Ukrainians anticipate could be a high-stakes and potentially emotional meeting on which Ukraine’s future could hinge.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Finnish President Alexander Stubb confirmed Sunday that they will join Zelensky.

Their decision to join Zelensky at his White House meeting — a dramatic, high-profile gesture — underlines the importance of the conversation that will take place between Trump and Zelensky, and the need to drastically change the trajectory of the peace negotiations.

Zelensky is also traveling to Brussels on Sunday and will meet virtually with the “coalition of the willing,” a group of European allies planning to back any future settlement of the war, including with troops.

Trump met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Anchorage on Friday, after which Trump dropped his demand for a ceasefire, called for a final peace deal and told allies that Putin wanted Ukraine’s eastern Donbas area as a condition for ending the war.

Zelensky and his European backers have long called for a ceasefire instead of a final settlement, with European allies saying that Ukraine cannot negotiate under attack and are wary of a rushed deal.

Zelensky will tread a fine line on Monday, experts and Ukrainian political figures said, having to take care not to anger Trump while at the same time convincing him that his recent proposals for an end to the Ukraine-Russia war are unworkable.

Foremost in Ukrainians’ minds is avoiding a repetition of a contentious meeting in the Oval Office in February between Zelensky, Trump and Vice President JD Vance that dissolved into a shouting match and gravely damaged Kyiv’s position with its U.S. ally. Vance is expected to join the Monday meeting with Zelensky, a Trump administration official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.

“Unfortunately, there is such risk indeed” of a repeat of that scene from earlier this year, said Mykola Bielieskov, a research fellow at the government-linked Ukrainian National Institute for Strategic Studies. “It seems that Putin managed to build a case in Trump’s mind in Alaska that it’s Ukraine that should make major concessions for peace.”
Zelensky needs to “strike a balance between being non-provocative in his defense of Ukraine national interests but still mindful of promoting those interests,” Bielieskov said.

The support of European leaders in Washington is key, said Oleksandr Merezhko, chairman of the Ukrainian parliament’s foreign affairs committee.

“Trump now can do something only under colossal moral and political pressure from Western Europe,” Merezhko said in an interview before the European leaders announced plans to join the Monday meeting. “Otherwise, he will lean towards Putin’s side and support him.”

Having European leaders at the meeting would also “level the negotiating balance,” said Volodymyr Fesenko, head of the Kyiv-based Penta Center for Applied Political Studies think tank.

The European leaders can “look out for Zelensky and reduce the tension if necessary,” Fesenko said.

Ukraine and its European allies may find themselves, Fesenko said, “on what I call ‘the Trump roller coaster’ — first it goes in one direction, and then in another.”

“He took Putin’s side in Alaska, and before that, in July, he took our side. Now he needs to be returned to our side again, at least partially,” he said.

One European official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters, said he was surprised that Trump appeared to so easily drop the leverage he had against Putin, especially considering the increasing pressure that the Russian economy is under due to inflation and sky-high interest rates, which have caused many Russian business leaders to warn of impending bankruptcies. Trump threatened to levy tough sanctions on Russia earlier this month, but those plans did not materialize as Trump and Putin prepared to meet.

But the fact that the summit meeting with Putin had ended early, while the U.S. leader stated in an interview following the summit that he could return to the question of imposing sanctions targeting Russia “in two or three weeks” was a sign Putin had not been able to win over Trump completely, the official said.

A Ukrainian official, also speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters, said it would be impossible for Zelensky to agree to any deal that would force ceding Donbas.

“We are not going to put 1 million Ukrainians into occupation,” the official said. “It’s unbelievable that it is even possible to propose anything like that in the modern world.”

Loading…

www.washingtonpost.com

 

[Butler1000]

Until there is an actual cease fire I'm skeptical.

 

[SchlongConery]

Until there is an actual cease fire I'm skeptical.

Until Putin is dead, or Russia collapses, I don't believe there will be a peace that last more than 15-20 years.

 

[Phil C. McNasty]

The only way this will work is if there's a militarily enforced buffer zone across Ukraine (similar to NKorea)

 

[Anbarandy]

This is a major concession by Putin.
Putin has agreed to a Nato-style defence guarantee for Ukraine in return for some land.
If talks dont break down it looks like we might get a peace deal

Russia-Ukraine latest: Starmer to meet with Trump and Zelensky in Washington

The US must provide air, land and sea security guarantees, Volodymyr Zelensky has said, as he prepares for showdown talks with Donald Trump in the White House on Monday.

www.telegraph.co.uk

The US must provide air, land and sea security guarantees, Volodymyr Zelensky has said, as he prepares for showdown talks with Donald Trump in the White House on Monday. Speaking after a meeting of the so-called ‘Coalition of the Willing,’ the Ukrainian President said security guarantees “must be truly very practical and provide protection on land, in the air, and at sea.”

The US is understood to have offered a Nato-style collective defence guarantee for Ukraine, which special envoy Steve Witkoff described as “game-changing”.

Nato’s Article 5 states that an armed attack against one or more of its members should be considered an attack on all.
Ukraine would be able to enjoy a guarantee resembling this clause without becoming an official member of the bloc.

Mr Witkoff today confirmed that Vladimir Putin had agreed to the guarantee at talks in Alaska, saying it was “the first time we had ever heard the Russians agree to that.” Mr Zelensky also said today at a press conference preceding the meeting that key issues such as territory had to be discussed with Ukraine’s participation in a trilateral format: Ukraine, the US and Russia.

Putin has not yet publicly agreed to any three-way talks, though Axios previously reported that Mr Trump was keen to meet with the Ukrainian and Russian leaders as soon as Aug 22.

Steve Witkoff?

Why would anyone take anything Steve Witkoff states seriously? He is not a serious negotiator, statesman or geopolitical strategist. He's a huckster, a hack, a carnival barker just like his boss.

 

[Anbarandy]

Until there is an actual cease fire I'm skeptical.

The most deserving Nobel Peace prize recipient-in-waiting EVER, like the world has never ever seen before, would have been crowing like a filled-up-on-orangutan-carcass-entrails vulture had anything in the vicinity of Witkoff's hucksterism was actually not just pure bullshit covering up the shitting in his diapers, debacle, capitulation and surrender by Trump to Putin. But he was not.

 

[squeezer]

Trump and Putin are besties and have been even before the POS orange clown became number 45. This was obvious by the way both were happy as pigs in shit around one another.

 

[seanzo]

Per big z, it's impossible to give up or trade land because of the Ukrainian constitution...which is rather ironic given his constitutional term as president ended in May of 24. Regardless unless he has a change of heart, there will be no ceasefire it seems

 

[Anbarandy]

Per big z, it's impossible to give up or trade land because of the Ukrainian constitution...which is rather ironic given his constitutional term as president ended in May of 24. Regardless unless he has a change of heart, there will be no ceasefire it seems

U find that ironic, eh?

Tee-hee, hee-hee ....... I find u funny.

 

[Valcazar]

Steve Witkoff?

Why would anyone take anything Steve Witkoff states seriously? He is not a serious negotiator, statesman or geopolitical strategist. He's a huckster, a hack, a carnival barker just like his boss.

It seems wildly unlikely, doesn't it?

A "NATO-style defence guarantee"?
Does that mean something like Article 5?
If Russia attacks Ukraine, troops will be put on the ground to stop it?

Who would be guaranteeing this?
Why would Putin agree to a NATO-style defence treaty when a NATO-style defence treaty is what he says he objects to?

Until I hear something with more detail than "Steve says that Putin said he was cool with this", I'm not too interested.

 

[squeezer]

Per big z, it's impossible to give up or trade land because of the Ukrainian constitution...which is rather ironic given his constitutional term as president ended in May of 24. Regardless unless he has a change of heart, there will be no ceasefire it seems

You would rather just cheer on a man who invaded a peaceful country and has rigged the elections for the longest time. He's probably teaching Trumputin how to go about doing the same thing in the US.

 

[squeezer]

It seems wildly unlikely, doesn't it?

A "NATO-style defence guarantee"?
Does that mean something like Article 5?
If Russia attacks Ukraine, troops will be put on the ground to stop it?

Who would be guaranteeing this?
Why would Putin agree to a NATO-style defence treaty when a NATO-style defence treaty is what he says he objects to?

Until I hear something with more detail than "Steve says that Putin said he was cool with this", I'm not too interested.

We need to hear from Notti, Putin's quaff sniffer, to get the real story. LOL

 

[oil&gas]

It seems wildly unlikely, doesn't it?

A "NATO-style defence guarantee"?
Does that mean something like Article 5?
If Russia attacks Ukraine, troops will be put on the ground to stop it?

I think promise of a Israel-type of security guarantee for Ukraine would
satisfy everyone including Zelenskyy and Putin.

Who would be guaranteeing this?
Why would Putin agree to a NATO-style defence treaty when a NATO-style defence treaty is what he says he objects to?

Until I hear something with more detail than "Steve says that Putin said he was cool with this", I'm not too interested.

 

[SchlongConery]

Trump and Putin are besties and have been even before the POS orange clown became number 45. This was obvious by the way both were happy as pigs in shit around one another.

Not really a look of admiration after the meetingin the post talks so-called news conference.

You could tell by the look on Trumps' face that he knew it wasn't Putin there. It was a body double. I'll bet any Trumptard a half hour session with a Mirage girl. Andy can hold the wager.

 

[squeezer]

Not really a look of admiration after the meetingin the post talks so-called news conference.

You could tell by the look on Trumps' face that he knew it wasn't Putin there. It was a body double. I'll bet any Trumptard a half hour session with a Mirage girl. Andy can hold the wager.

View attachment 473881

I don't believe even Trump would put up with a body double. I believe it was Putin, just a sickly old man version.

 

[Robert Mugabe]

This is a major concession by Putin.
Putin has agreed to a Nato-style defence guarantee for Ukraine in return for some land.
If talks dont break down it looks like we might get a peace deal

Russia-Ukraine latest: Starmer to meet with Trump and Zelensky in Washington

The US must provide air, land and sea security guarantees, Volodymyr Zelensky has said, as he prepares for showdown talks with Donald Trump in the White House on Monday.

www.telegraph.co.uk

The US must provide air, land and sea security guarantees, Volodymyr Zelensky has said, as he prepares for showdown talks with Donald Trump in the White House on Monday. Speaking after a meeting of the so-called ‘Coalition of the Willing,’ the Ukrainian President said security guarantees “must be truly very practical and provide protection on land, in the air, and at sea.”

The US is understood to have offered a Nato-style collective defence guarantee for Ukraine, which special envoy Steve Witkoff described as “game-changing”.

Nato’s Article 5 states that an armed attack against one or more of its members should be considered an attack on all.
Ukraine would be able to enjoy a guarantee resembling this clause without becoming an official member of the bloc.

Mr Witkoff today confirmed that Vladimir Putin had agreed to the guarantee at talks in Alaska, saying it was “the first time we had ever heard the Russians agree to that.” Mr Zelensky also said today at a press conference preceding the meeting that key issues such as territory had to be discussed with Ukraine’s participation in a trilateral format: Ukraine, the US and Russia.

Putin has not yet publicly agreed to any three-way talks, though Axios previously reported that Mr Trump was keen to meet with the Ukrainian and Russian leaders as soon as Aug 22.

If talks dont break down it looks like we might get a peace deal
We?

 

[Robert Mugabe]

I think promise of a Israel-type of security guarantee for Ukraine would
satisfy everyone including Zelenskyy and Putin.

How could you not be satisfied? Oh wait.....
As of June 2025, the Ukraine war has resulted in approximately 45,001 verified civilian casualties. Additionally, estimates suggest that nearly one million individuals, including both military and civilian casualties, have been killed or wounded since the conflict began. Specifically, there are estimates of 70,000 Ukrainian deaths and 120,000 Russian deaths. Overall, the total number of dead and wounded from both sides is nearing 500,000.

Statista+4

Statista
Ukraine civilian war casualties 2025| Statista


Newsweek
How Many People Have Died in the Russia-Ukraine War?




View all


Newsweek
How Many People Have Died in the Russia-Ukraine War?
The war between Ukraine and Russia has led to staggering human losses, with estimates placing the total number of dead and wounded at nearly one million.
https://www.newsweek.com

Aljazeera
Record high deaths in the Russia-Ukraine war: What you should know
Last month, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), citing intelligence and undisclosed sources, reported a grim milestone: about one million Ukrainians and Russians have been killed or wou…
https://www.aljazeera.com › news › russia-ukraine-wartime-deaths

Britannica
What are the military casualty estimates for the Russia-Ukraine War?
The New York Times has cited U.S. intelligence sources claiming, as of August 2023, estimated Russian losses of 120,000 dead and 170,000–180,000 wounded as well as estimated Ukrain…
https://www.britannica.com › question › What-are-the-military-casualty-estimates-for-the-Russia-Ukraine-War

Statista

 

[Robert Mugabe]

how many cities have been destroyed by the russian invasion
The Russian invasion of Ukraine has resulted in the destruction of six cities in the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts, which are completely destroyed due to the invasion. These cities are Mariupol, Volnovakha, Rubizhne, Popasna, Lyman, and Sievierodonetsk. The invasion has also caused significant damage to infrastructure, with over 350,000 facilities and millions of square meters of housing, educational, medical, and sports infrastructure destroyed. The total damage is estimated to be much higher than the initial reported figure of $90 billion.
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