The US is considering a security guarantee that would grant Ukraine automatic NATO membership if Russia violates a future peace agreement, NBC News reports, citing four US officials.
The proposal addresses concerns that Russia could regroup and launch another invasion breaking any ceasefire brokered in a potential peace plan.
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Some State Department officials advised against publicly stating that Ukraine wouldn’t gain NATO membership as part of a peace deal with Russia, four administration and congressional officials informed NBC News before Pete Hegseth’s speech in Brussels on Feb. 12.
However, Hegseth deviated from the prepared remarks. He delivered a stronger negative message about Ukraine‘s NATO prospects, saying: “The United States does not believe that NATO membership for Ukraine is a realistic outcome of a negotiated settlement.”
The original speech had suggested that security guarantees for Ukraine should not come through NATO membership, according to three US officials familiar with the draft.
According to Kyiv Post, European leaders planned to meet in Paris on Feb. 17 to discuss Ukraine’s NATO bid if Moscow breaches a peace deal.
The emergency summit followed the White House announcement that Europe would be excluded from key negotiations on Russia’s invasion. The move sparked backlash, with European leaders insisting that peace cannot be “imposed” on Ukraine with preconditions set by the aggressor.
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At the Munich Security Conference, President Volodymyr Zelensky reaffirmed NATO membership as Kyiv’s top demand, despite Trump administration “reservations.”
After Russia’s 2014 invasion, several peace proposals, known as the Minsk Agreements, were signed. However, they were criticized for lacking concrete measures to ensure long-term peace, especially before Russia’s full-scale 2022 invasion.
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