00:00Decisions on potential territorial concessions can only be made by the people of Ukraine
00:05and once robust security guarantees are in place.
00:09That's according to a joint statement from European leaders following talks in Berlin.
00:14They've also proposed a European-led multinational force with US support
00:18to enforce any potential peace deal.
00:21And in the last few minutes, Donald Trump said he'd spoken directly with Vladimir Putin
00:26and believed that an agreement was close.
00:30What happened should have never started.
00:32That war should have never, ever started.
00:35But it did, and we're trying to get it solved.
00:37That was Biden's situation.
00:39We're trying to get it done.
00:42And I think we're closer now, and they will tell you that they're closer now.
00:47We had numerous conversations with President Putin of Russia,
00:51and I think we're closer now than we have been ever, and we'll see what we can do.
00:57We want to save a lot of lives.
00:58We sell equipment to NATO.
01:00We don't spend any money, but we do want to see if we can save a lot of lives.
01:05Well, for more, let's cross live now to Washington,
01:08where France 24's Fraser Jackson is standing by for us.
01:12Fraser, we've been hearing from Donald Trump speaking to reporters in the last few minutes.
01:17At this point, what more do we know about these potential security guarantees for Ukraine?
01:22What is the latest?
01:26Well, we know that the two sticking points towards any peace deal have been these security guarantees and territory.
01:31Now, not much movement in terms of territory.
01:33That is still being worked out.
01:35But a U.S. official that I was on a phone call with earlier said about Ukraine's defense under this deal,
01:40quote, this is the most robust set of security protocols they have ever seen.
01:45So what exactly is included?
01:47Well, we did get more detail that came out of that joint statement from the European leaders.
01:51They said, quote, both the U.S. and European leaders committed to work together to provide robust security guarantees
01:57and economic recovery support measures for Ukraine in the context of an agreement on ending the war.
02:03Now, that would include commitments to, one, help Ukraine build its army to 800,000 people.
02:10It's also going to help develop a European-led multinational force, Ukraine, that will be supported by the U.S.
02:17The U.S. also leading ceasefire monitoring and verification, as well as de-confliction mechanisms.
02:23It's unclear what exactly they are at the moment, though.
02:25But perhaps the biggest achievement for Ukrainian and European negotiators is that they've got the U.S.
02:31to agree to what one U.S. official said is described as an Article 5-like guarantee.
02:37Now, the U.S. official wouldn't provide more context on what that would entail.
02:41But the European leaders' statement, once again, gives a bit more clarity,
02:45saying that these measures may include armed force intelligence and logistical assistance,
02:50as well as economic and diplomatic actions.
02:52Now, during that call with the leader, with the U.S. official,
02:56the U.S. official was asked whether there would be U.S. boots on the ground.
03:00And the one official said no before then backtracking.
03:04So it's believed from that call, from reading between the lines,
03:07that the U.S. has not agreed to send any U.S. troops to be part of that multinational force,
03:13but will be providing things like air defence and intelligence services for the Ukrainians
03:18and the rest of the coalition as well.
03:20Now, the other big movement, really, is that the deal calls to support Ukraine's EU membership bid.
03:26The U.S. official said that Russia had signalled it would be OK with this.
03:30It's never officially said it wasn't OK with that,
03:32not unlike its stance on Ukraine's membership to NATO.
03:37But there are also components of this deal which, again, touch on the rebuilding of Ukraine,
03:41the economic side, after the end of this war, including getting Russia to compensate Ukraine for the damage caused.
03:49Lastly, though, the main thing, really, that everybody is looking at is the territory aspect of things.
03:54That is the last major hurdle.
03:55EU and U.S. leaders say that that is for Ukraine to decide.
03:59But they also said that they're going to help Zelensky if he needs to call a referendum
04:03to ask the people of Ukraine about land concessions.
04:07And, Fraser, does all of this suggest, then, that Washington is finally starting to shift the pressure from Ukraine to Russia?
04:15And what do we think is going to happen next?
04:19Well, it's almost impossible to say.
04:21Donald Trump has vacillated between blaming Ukraine, blaming Russia.
04:24He's always been slightly softer on Russia than he has been on Ukraine.
04:28Just days ago, he was putting pressure on Vladimir Zelensky.
04:33There was reporting that he'd pressured the Ukrainians to sign this peace deal before Christmas,
04:37that he was upset with Zelensky for not reading this peace deal.
04:40Zelensky, of course, said that he was waiting to be briefed on it by his negotiators and the Europeans before he did anything.
04:46Well, now all of that has changed.
04:48The signals now come from Russia that they will be OK with aspects of this deal,
04:53but whether they'll be OK with the wider text now is what we're all looking for,
04:57and whether they will indeed sign this deal.
05:00Donald Trump says that he has spoken to Vladimir Putin recently,
05:04whether he discussed this deal and the most up-to-date aspects that we are now learning about,
05:08we are unsure of.
05:10But, of course, this, again, could be part of the United States' part of public pressure campaign
05:15that they've been using to try to get the Russians to come to the table.
05:19But, again, whether that is going to get Russia to step back from its maximalist positions that he's been taking,
05:25that is what we now wait to see.
05:27Fraser, for now, thanks so much.
05:29That is our correspondent in Washington, Fraser Jackson.
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