The cordial exchange of congratulations from the US President and Secretary of State to Ukraine, and the thank you offered back to the White House, may point to the key differences in what a real peace means for the two parties that actually want fighting to stop in Russia’s War against Ukraine. The keyword is guarantee and what that word means.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, on behalf of the US, congratulated the people of Ukraine on their 34 years of independence in a press release distributed on Sunday, Ukrinform reports.
“The United States is committed to Ukraine’s future as an independent nation,” Rubio stated.
According to Rubio, the White House believes “in a negotiated settlement that upholds Ukrainian sovereignty and guarantees its long-term security, leading to durable peace”.
Rubio addressed Ukrainians directly:
“On this Independence Day, as you pay tribute to your nation’s history, the United States looks forward to continuing to build on our economic and security partnership for a peaceful, prosperous future for both our nations.”
In a more formal letter, rather than his usually preferred own Truth Social media platform, US President Donald Trump sent “congratulations and warmest wishes” on behalf of the American people and said Ukrainian’s have “an unbreakable spirit, and your country’s courage inspires many.”
Trump’s final paragraph of the short letter reads:
“Now is the moment to bring an end to the senseless killing. The United States supports a negotiated settlement that leads to a durable, lasting peace that ends the bloodshed and safeguards Ukraine’s sovereignty and dignity.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky used the X platform to thank the President of the United States, written in the accepted social media acronym for the position as @POTUS, for his “heartfelt congratulations on Ukraine’s Independence Day.”
Zelensky thanked “the United States for standing shoulder to shoulder with Ukraine in defending” what he then highlighted as the most important objectives for Ukraine: “independence, freedom, and guaranteed peace.”
The word guaranteed here is an important clue to the subtle difference conveyed, because Ukraine has been guaranteed peace, independence, and freedom before.
In the 1994 Budapest Memorandum, three nations said they would guarantee these things to Ukraine if only it would give up its physical control of the third biggest national stockpile of nuclear warheads.
The guarantors are all parties to the current “peace” discussions. Two are nominally allies, with one of the two being more willing to help at the moment. And the third switched from being a guarantor to being the instigator of the aggression.
Here, Zelensky is referring to a “NATO Article V-type guarantee,” much touted by European leaders in the “Coalition of the Willing” at the DC Summit on Monday.
The Ukrainian leader summarized by saying:
“We believe that by working together, we can put an end to this war and achieve real peace for Ukraine.”