Europe Sets Conditions for Ukraine Peace

The Berlin talks produced a joint statement by leaders from Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Italy, Poland, the Netherlands, the Nordic states, and others, alongside European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President António Costa.

The document asserts that “robust security guarantees” must precede any negotiations over Ukrainian territory, explicitly stating that such decisions ultimately belong to Ukraine’s population rather than external mediators.

Officials framed the approach as a structural safeguard rather than a political concession, emphasizing that peace terms lacking enforcement capacity would remain unstable regardless of diplomatic signatures.

“Multinational Force Ukraine”

A central element of the proposal is the creation of a European-led “Multinational Force Ukraine,” described as a coalition of the willing operating with U.S. support.

The force would assist in rebuilding Ukraine’s armed forces, securing Ukrainian airspace and maritime approaches, and potentially operating inside Ukrainian territory as part of a post-conflict security architecture.

The statement links this presence to sustained military assistance aimed at maintaining Ukraine’s forces at a peacetime strength of approximately 800,000 troops.

European officials argued that force size, continuity of training, and integrated air and maritime defense are necessary to deter future attacks rather than merely respond to them.

Article 5-Like Commitments

Beyond troop levels, the proposal calls for legally binding commitments—subject to national parliamentary procedures—for military, intelligence, logistical, economic, and diplomatic responses to any future Russian assault.

Some officials privately characterized these pledges as “Article 5-like,” though outside the formal NATO treaty structure.

By embedding automatic response mechanisms across multiple domains, European leaders seek to reduce ambiguity that could otherwise weaken deterrence, while avoiding immediate expansion of treaty obligations.

Reconstruction and Russian Assets

The statement also ties security guarantees to Ukraine’s reconstruction, endorsing the use of frozen Russian assets for compensation and rebuilding.

European leaders stressed that these assets would remain frozen until Russia pays reparations, linking economic leverage directly to postwar recovery.

Trump, commenting the same day, said a settlement was “closer now than we have ever been,” while acknowledging that “it’s a difficult one” and that Europe would play a major role in providing security guarantees.