NEW YORK: Special US envoy Steve Witkoff said Sunday that Russian leader Vladimir Putin agreed at his summit with President Donald Trump to allow the US and European allies to offer Ukraine a security guarantee resembling NATO’s collective defense mandate as part of an eventual deal to end the 3 1/2-year war.
“We were able to win the following concession: That the United States could offer Article 5-like protection, which is one of the real reasons why Ukraine wants to be in NATO,” he said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” He added that it “was the first time we had ever heard the Russians agree to that.”
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, speaking at a news conference in Brussels with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, said that “we welcome President Trump’s willingness to contribute to Article 5-like security guarantees for Ukraine and the ‘Coalition of the willing’ — including the European Union — is ready to do its share.”
Witkoff, offering some of the first details of what was discussed at Friday’s summit in Alaska, said the two sides agreeing to “robust security guarantees that I would describe as game-changing.” He added that Russia said that it would make a legislative commitment not to go after any additional territory in Ukraine.
Zelensky thanked the United States for recent signals that Washington is willing to support security guarantees for Ukraine, but said the details remained unclear.
“It is important that America agrees to work with Europe to provide security guarantees for Ukraine,” he said, “But there are no details how it will work, and what America’s role will be, Europe’s role will be and what the EU can do, and this is our main task, we need security to work in practice like Article 5 of NATO, and we consider EU accession to be part of the security guarantees.”
Witkoff defended Trump’s decision to abandon his push for Russian to agree to an immediate ceasefire, saying the president had pivoted toward a peace deal because so much progress was made.
“We covered almost all the other issues necessary for a peace deal,” Witkoff said, without elaborating.
“We began to see some moderation in the way they’re thinking about getting to a final peace deal,” he said.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio insisted there would be “additional consequences” as Trump warned before meeting with Putin, if they failed to reach a ceasefire. But Rubio noted that there wasn’t going to be any sort of deal on a truce reached when Ukraine wasn’t at the talks.
“Now, ultimately, if there isn’t a peace agreement, if there isn’t an end of this war, the president’s been clear, there are going to be consequences,” Rubio said on ABC’s “This Week.” “But we’re trying to avoid that. And the way we’re trying to avoid those consequences is with an even better consequence, which is peace, the end of hostilities.”
Rubio, who is also Trump’s national security adviser, said he did not believe issuing new sanctions on Russia would force Putin to accept a ceasefire, noting that the latter isn’t off the table but that “the best way to end this conflict is through a full peace deal.”
“The minute you issue new sanctions, your ability to get them to the table, our ability to get them to table will be severely diminished,” Rubio said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
He also said “we’re not at the precipice of a peace agreement” and that getting there would not be easy and would take a lot of work.
“We made progress in the sense that we identified potential areas of agreement, but there remains some big areas of disagreement. So we’re still a long ways off,” Rubio said.
Zelensky and Europeans leaders are scheduled to meet Monday with Trump at the White House. They heard from the president after his meeting with Putin.
“I think everybody agreed that we had made progress. Maybe not enough for a peace deal, but we are on the path for the first time,” Witkoff said.
He added: “The fundamental issue, which is some sort of land swap, which is obviously ultimately in the control of the Ukrainians — that could not have been discussed at this meeting” with Putin. “We intend to discuss it on Monday. Hopefully we have some clarity on it and hopefully that ends up in a peace deal very, very soon.”
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Putin agreed to let US, Europe offer NATO-style security protections for Ukraine: Trump envoy
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Putin agreed to let US, Europe offer NATO-style security protections for Ukraine: Trump envoy
- Witkoff said the two sides agreeing to “robust security guarantees that I would describe as game-changing”
- Zelensky thanked US for recent signals that Washington is willing to support security guarantees for Ukraine, but said the details remained unclear
Why Somali migrants may still aim for US despite travel restrictions
MOGADISHU: Somali migrant Mohamed Abdi Awale endured horrors on an ill-fated journey across Africa to seek a better life in the West — but he’s determined to try again one day, even aiming for the US despite increasing restrictions.
Awale is one of 165 Somali migrants recently repatriated after being detained in Libya, where the International Organization for Migration says those caught on journeys to Europe face “unacceptable and inhumane conditions.”
Awale undertook a more than 5,000-kilometer (3,100-mile) journey, leaving Somali capital Mogadishu to cross Kenya, Uganda, South Sudan and Sudan.
He was captured by smugglers near the Sudan-Libyan border and taken to the Sahara oasis town of Kufra, where captors filmed him being tortured in a bid to extract a ransom from his family.
“Torture became normal,” Awale said. “If you failed to pay, they beat you until you fainted. Some people lost their minds. Others didn’t survive.”
Unable to afford the ransom, his mother, Hawo Elmo Rage, turned to social media, pleading with Somalis at home and abroad to help her save her son.
“They told me to send the money or they would take his life,” Rage said. She ultimately raised $17,000, enough to free him.
Awale was released from Kufra and put in a car bound for the Mediterranean coast with other migrants. After their vehicle broke down, the group trekked for more than two weeks, facing starvation and dehydration.
“I thought we would die there,” Awale said.
The group was then detained outside of Tripoli, and Awale spent a month in prison in the coastal town of Sirte and another two months in detention in Tripoli before his repatriation to Somalia in November.
Awale became one of hundreds of thousands of Somalis that have fled the country in more than three decades of civil war, according to UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, which estimates that another 3.5 million people are displaced within Somalia itself.
While most Somali refugees live in neighboring countries like Kenya, according to UNHCR, many like Awale have been inspired to seek a future in the West. Awale said that he dreamed of moving to the US since he was a child.
“I want him to stay,” his mother said. “But I know he wishes for a better life. I pray God gives him a safe future— not the dangerous one he found.”
Changes to immigration policy this year under Trump administration changed the calculus of migrants like Awale. US President Donald Trump banned travel to the US by citizens of Somalia and 11 other countries in June — so Awale set his sights on Europe.
Awale remains hopeful that he will reach the US one day, despite anti-Somali sentiment from the White House and a further tightening of immigration restrictions for Somalis.
The White House also announced this week that it was pausing all immigration applications for people from 19 countries, including Somalia.
“My dream was America, but I felt like Trump closed that door,” Awale said. “Maybe after Trump’s term ends.”
Awale is one of 165 Somali migrants recently repatriated after being detained in Libya, where the International Organization for Migration says those caught on journeys to Europe face “unacceptable and inhumane conditions.”
Awale undertook a more than 5,000-kilometer (3,100-mile) journey, leaving Somali capital Mogadishu to cross Kenya, Uganda, South Sudan and Sudan.
He was captured by smugglers near the Sudan-Libyan border and taken to the Sahara oasis town of Kufra, where captors filmed him being tortured in a bid to extract a ransom from his family.
“Torture became normal,” Awale said. “If you failed to pay, they beat you until you fainted. Some people lost their minds. Others didn’t survive.”
Unable to afford the ransom, his mother, Hawo Elmo Rage, turned to social media, pleading with Somalis at home and abroad to help her save her son.
“They told me to send the money or they would take his life,” Rage said. She ultimately raised $17,000, enough to free him.
Awale was released from Kufra and put in a car bound for the Mediterranean coast with other migrants. After their vehicle broke down, the group trekked for more than two weeks, facing starvation and dehydration.
“I thought we would die there,” Awale said.
The group was then detained outside of Tripoli, and Awale spent a month in prison in the coastal town of Sirte and another two months in detention in Tripoli before his repatriation to Somalia in November.
Awale became one of hundreds of thousands of Somalis that have fled the country in more than three decades of civil war, according to UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, which estimates that another 3.5 million people are displaced within Somalia itself.
While most Somali refugees live in neighboring countries like Kenya, according to UNHCR, many like Awale have been inspired to seek a future in the West. Awale said that he dreamed of moving to the US since he was a child.
“I want him to stay,” his mother said. “But I know he wishes for a better life. I pray God gives him a safe future— not the dangerous one he found.”
Changes to immigration policy this year under Trump administration changed the calculus of migrants like Awale. US President Donald Trump banned travel to the US by citizens of Somalia and 11 other countries in June — so Awale set his sights on Europe.
Awale remains hopeful that he will reach the US one day, despite anti-Somali sentiment from the White House and a further tightening of immigration restrictions for Somalis.
The White House also announced this week that it was pausing all immigration applications for people from 19 countries, including Somalia.
“My dream was America, but I felt like Trump closed that door,” Awale said. “Maybe after Trump’s term ends.”
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