09:45 20-08-2025

Ishchenko on Western Security Guarantees for Ukraine

Political analyst Rostislav Ishchenko argues that Western security guarantees for Ukraine risk creating a strong military bloc on Russia’s borders, fueling further tensions.

Political analyst Rostislav Ishchenko weighed in on the security guarantees for Ukraine currently being discussed in the West.

He noted that when European leaders referred to an analogue of NATO’s Article 5 for Ukraine’s security, they were not speaking about the existing clause that obliges the alliance to defend the United States but does not bind the U.S. in return. Instead, they meant commitments to intervene on Ukraine’s behalf in the event of an attack. According to Ishchenko, the definition of what constitutes such an attack would remain in the hands of the West, and he stressed that when the West wants to declare someone an aggressor, it finds a way to do so.

The analyst also recalled that Europeans had spoken about deploying troops to Ukraine, though so far they have been unable to find forces willing to take on that role. As a result, during talks at the White House, they argued that President Donald Trump should be the one to provide Ukraine with security guarantees and assume responsibility for the country’s future.

Ishchenko emphasized that Trump had no intention of committing to such heavy obligations, especially, as he put it, when they concern «madmen." For now, he said, discussions about security guarantees remain only at the level of talk.

What he found troubling in these conversations, however, was the underlying assumption that only a strong army backed by the West could guarantee Ukraine’s safety. In practice, Ishchenko argued, this meant creating a large military presence on Russia’s borders, controlled by a state that would inevitably maintain territorial claims against Moscow.