US, allies discuss stronger security guarantees for Ukraine

Kate Sullivan, Bloomberg News on Dec 31, 2025

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U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff said he held a “productive call” with European leaders on the next steps in President Donald Trump’s efforts to bring a halt to Russia’s war in Ukraine, following new challenges in the peace negotiations this week.

Witkoff, in a post Wednesday on X, said that he along with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law, had discussed “advancing the next steps in the European peace process.”

The discussions touch on “strengthening security guarantees and developing effective deconfliction mechanisms to help end the war and ensure it does not restart,” Witkoff said.

Security guarantees are a key sticking point in the negotiations, with Kyiv and European allies saying a strong deterrent is needed to ensure that Russia does not attack Ukraine again after a potential peace deal.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told reporters that he had asked Trump during a meeting Sunday for security guarantees that could last as long as half a century. Current proposals under discussion set out a 15-year term with the possibility for an extension.

“We also spent time on the prosperity package for Ukraine — how to continue defining, refining, and advancing these concepts so Ukraine can be successful, resilient, and truly thrive once the war is over,” Witkoff added.

The U.S. officials were joined on the call by representatives from the United Kingdom, Germany and France. Witkoff said their discussions would continue in the new year.

Rustem Umerov, a top Ukrainian envoy, said he is preparing to organize a meeting with security officials from European partners and the US for Jan. 3.

Wednesday’s call follows a flurry of diplomatic activity as Trump looks to secure an end to the war in Ukraine, a conflict he had pledged to halt on his first day back in office. Those efforts suffered a fresh setback this week, with Trump on Wednesday appearing to signal his displeasure with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

After Trump and Zelenskyy expressed optimism about the peace negotiations on Sunday, Putin tamped the brakes on hopes for a quick resolution. Putin told Trump in a call Monday that the Kremlin would revise its negotiating position, claiming that Ukrainian drones had targeted his residence.

Ukraine has denied the attack allegations, casting them as a Russian fabrication aimed at derailing the peace talks. Trump told reporters earlier this week that he was “very angry” about the purported incident, but on Wednesday shared a New York Post editorial that sharply criticized the Kremlin and argued Trump should “turn up the heat” on Russia.

Trump in a social-media post shared the editorial, titled “Putin ‘attack’ bluster shows Russia is the one standing in the way of peace,” without making any additional remarks.

The editorial cast doubt on Russia’s allegations, saying that “on cue, Russian dictator Vladimir Putin chose lies, hatred, and death instead” and laid out a case for escalating penalties on Russia in terms personal to the president.

Ukrainian officials have toiled in recent weeks to revise a 28-point draft plan originally proposed by the U.S. but seen as overly favorable to Russia. The latest version has 20 points, but Moscow has warned that it includes elements it won’t accept, including on the size of Ukraine’s postwar military.

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