Ukraine is ready to freeze the frontlines with Russia — if European and American allies can help provide tough security guarantees, US Ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker said Monday.
“Ukraine has proven and demonstrated that they’re willing to make a deal. They’re willing to freeze the front line if they get security guarantees,” Whitaker told Fox Business‘ Liz Claman.
“I think there’s a framework for a deal, and now we just need to make sure it happens.”
That could be a game-changer in President Trump’s peace efforts, proving Kyiv’s commitment to ending the brutal conflict that now sees more than 7,000 Ukrainian and Russian deaths per week.
Kyiv officials did not immediately comment on Whitaker’s assertions Tuesday, but Ukrainian and US sources have told The Post that Zelensky may be open to formally acknowledging Russian control — not ownership — of some occupied regions in eastern Ukraine as part of a negotiated settlement.
But it will take more than just Ukraine’s willingness to make peace, the Whitaker said.
Moscow remains the biggest impediment to ending the war, rebuking Trump’s calls for a cease-fire and a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
“This death and destruction we’re seeing needs to end, and really continuing to increase the pressure on Vladimir Putin to end this war, because both sides are going to have to agree,” Whitaker said, calling for Europe to join in on Trump-proposed sanctions on Russian oil.
Whitaker explained that “the Russian economy is struggling” as its revenue “coming in every month [is] diminishing” — meaning sanctions targeting Moscow’s energy sales can exploit “some near-term cracks that are starting to appear in the Russian economy” and push Putin to the negotiation table.
“The money that’s paying for this war is coming from the sale of Russian oil to countries including India, China and Brazil,” he said.
“And I think applying those additional sanctions and those additional tariffs to continue to increase the cost of doing business for Vladimir Putin reduces revenue.”
Putin last month told Washington he would accept “NATO-like” security guarantees for Ukraine as part of a negotiated settlement, according to Special Presidential Envoy Steve Witkoff.
But the Kremlin quickly backtracked following Trump’s meeting with the Russian strongman in Alaska on Aug. 15, with Moscow’s leadership rebuking the idea of European troops on Ukrainian soil.
The idea was meant as a compromise: Russia gets what it wants by keeping Ukraine out of NATO, while Kyiv would receive enough protection to deter Moscow from invading again after the war concludes. Still, it has suddenly become unacceptable to the Kremlin.
“In our understanding it will not help us get closer to the conclusion of the Ukrainian conflict,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the BBC this week. “It’s a real danger to us because we are an enemy of NATO.”
Ukraine, Europe and the US are also considering other security guarantees that would come in addition to the “NATO-like” arrangement. At least 26 European nations have pledged to join in, with some even offering troops on the ground to work a peacekeepers to enforce a halt to the war.
“We’re discussing the boots and flags on the ground, and we have big number of the country who is express and readiness to send,” Zelensky’s top advisor Andriy Yermak told The Post on Monday. “I can say that we already discussed exactly numbers, exactly locations. And this is boots on the ground and flags on the ground … in the land, in the sea and the air.”
The US would not provide troops on the ground, but Trump has signaled willingness to provide US air support.
Other guarantees include beefing up Ukraine’s military with training and equipment to empower Kyiv’s forces to deter Russia from pushing further into Europe, as well as boosting the country’s air defense, Yermak said.
“In the center of this system definitely will be a strong, non-limited Ukrainian military force, which need to be equipped and have everything which is necessary to prevent [Russian invasion] and to be ready to defend Ukraine,” he said.
That idea could be tempting for some in the Pentagon who aim to cull the number of US troops in Europe, officials told The Post.
Sanctions would also play a role in a security guarantee package, Yermak said, with partners threatening tough financial punishments should Moscow re-invade Ukraine.
“We need to very carefully and very smartly to coordinate … which sanctions can take place in the future after ending of the war, if aggressions, for example, would be potentially arise again,” he said.
But first, the Kremlin must demonstrate real commitment to ending its assault on Ukraine — and Whitaker said that may not happen until Putin feels the economic consequences of his aggression.
“Vladimir Putin obviously has calculated that he’s going to try to cause as much terror and claim as much territory as he possibly can in anticipation that this war is going to end,” he said.
“I continue to applaud President Trump — he brought Putin at the table and continues … to look for additional ways to apply leverage to make sure Putin not only stays at the table, but [has the] incentive, ultimately, to end this war.”
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