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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy revealed Monday that the United States is proposing a 15-year security guarantee as part of the latest draft plan to end Russia's invasion, though he has requested the commitment be extended to as long as 50 years.
Speaking to reporters via WhatsApp one day after meeting with President Donald Trump at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, Zelenskyy said he had asked Trump to consider a longer timeframe for American security assurances to Ukraine.
The Ukrainian leader framed the request in terms of the conflict's duration, noting that Russia's invasion has now lasted nearly three years since it began in February 2022.
"I raised this issue with the president. I told him that our war is still going on, and it has been almost 15 years," Zelenskyy said. "Therefore, we would really like the guarantees to be longer. I told him that we would very much like to consider the possibility of 30, 40, or 50 years. And that would then be a historic decision by President Trump."
According to Zelenskyy, Trump responded that he would "think about" the request.
While the precise details of the security guarantees remain undisclosed, Zelenskyy indicated Monday they would include monitoring mechanisms to detect cease-fire violations and some form of American and European "presence" in Ukraine.
A 20-point outline previously reported calls for a coordinated military response by the United States, NATO and other European countries if Russia restarts its invasion.
Russia has previously rejected the deployment of NATO troops inside Ukraine. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Monday that Russian President Vladimir Putin and Trump were expected to speak soon but did not indicate that Putin would engage with Zelenskyy in the near term.
French President Emmanuel Macron announced that Kyiv's allies would convene in Paris in early January to "finalize each country's concrete contributions" to the security guarantees, though it remains unclear whether Washington will send a representative to those talks.
Zelenskyy emphasized that security guarantees are essential for lifting the martial law that has been in place since the Russian invasion began.
Under Ukraine's constitution, elections cannot be held during martial law, which has resulted in the indefinite postponement of presidential and parliamentary votes originally scheduled for 2024.
"Without security guarantees, this war has not really ended," Zelenskyy said Monday. "We cannot recognize that it has ended."
The Ukrainian president's constitutional concerns add complexity to any peace negotiations.
Ukraine's post-Soviet constitution requires border changes to be approved through a nationwide referendum, which cannot occur until a cease-fire has held for 60 days, a waiting period Russia has not indicated it would accept.
Following Sunday's meeting, Trump said he would be willing to travel to Ukraine to persuade its legislators to support converting the eastern Donbas region into an internationally monitored, demilitarized "free economic zone."
The proposal addresses territory that Russia has largely captured during the conflict.
"I think the land—you're talking about—some of that land has been taken," Trump said. "Some of that land is maybe up for grabs, but it may be taken over the next period of several months—and you're better off making a deal now."
Russia has seized most of Luhansk and approximately 70 percent of Donetsk, the two areas comprising the Donbas region. The question of territorial control remains one of the most contentious issues in any potential peace agreement.
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