The peace proposal in Ukraine has left two key issues unresolved: the cession of territories and the security guarantees offered by the USA. Security expert Iulia Joja explains why the circulated security guarantees similar to those provided by Article 5 of the NATO Treaty are not enough.
We are very close to peace in Ukraine – say several diplomats and American and European analysts. However, there are two “hot spots” of a future peace treaty: the cession of Ukrainian territories and the security guarantees that the USA would grant to Ukraine.
High-ranking American officials have stated that the Trump administration is willing to offer Ukraine a guarantee based on Article 5 of NATO, which would be approved by Congress and would be legally binding. Article 5 of the NATO Treaty is the collective defense clause and says, in short, that an armed attack against a NATO member state is considered an attack against all member states and they will help, militarily or by other methods, the attacked country.
On the other hand, the cession of territories has been rejected, for many years, outright by the Zelenski administration and by European allies. However, it seems that, forced by the situation on the front and by pressures from President Trump, the Ukrainians would be willing to make certain concessions in this regard.
Iulia Joja, a foreign policy analyst in Washington, a teacher in the USA, at Georgetown University and a researcher at the Middle East Institute, explains in an interview for “Adevărul” why the two elements: security guarantees and the cession of territories are linked and what type of guarantees would ensure peace in the region.