US security guarantees must be legally binding, unlike “Budapest” or “Minsk”, says Zelensky
The Ukrainian and US delegations have already begun discussing the details of potential American security guarantees, said President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at a joint briefing with Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof.
It’s expected that the bilateral security guarantees from the US will be similar to those of NATO’s Article 5, which states that an attack on any member state of the Alliance is considered an attack on all of them.
“We are already working out the details. These must be strong security guarantees. Not like “Budapest” or “Minsk”, they should be backed by the US Congress and legally binding,” Zelensky said.
Zelensky added that it has not yet been discussed whether the security guarantees will be limited in time.
“The only thing that is very important for us is that it must be voted on in Congress. We believe that such guarantees will work. Although we all understand that this is Russia, and it is an aggressor. We do not know whether certain guarantees will stop them in the future. That is why we want to have all the guarantees,” Zelensky said.
Other guarantees
Zelensky added that strong security guarantees from the EU should primarily be economic one, i.e., Ukraine's membership in the European Union.
The general block of security guarantees also includes guarantees from member countries of the Coalition of the Willing. Not all members are from European countries. Zelensky also said that each country has its own constitution and its own status, which will affect the type of support it provides.
"You know, we have more than 30 countries in the Coalition of the Willing. And each country already understands its role or the scope of its supplies. Some are ready to provide only intelligence, some are ready to provide troops. We have this in a document. We have agreed among ourselves that we will not share it. The Coalition of the Willing has already decided that it is ready to provide guarantees only after the ceasefire. You will see what each country can provide," Zelensky said.
He added that the Ukrainian army has already proved itself as a security guarantee. Therefore, the Ukrainian authorities want to attract additional funding from partners in order to “provide normal contracts for those who want to continue military service and simply not lose this experience.”
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