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Ukraine plans to pledge a purchase of $100bn worth of American weapons, which will be financed by Europe, to secure US guarantees for its security after finalizing peace terms with Russia, as per a document accessed by the Financial Times.
The strategy includes a $50bn partnership between Kyiv and Washington to manufacture drones, building on Ukrainian companies’ innovations since Russia’s invasion in 2022.
Kyiv has shared these security proposal details, which have not been publicly disclosed before, with the US, outlining them in a document shared with European allies in preparation for a discussion with US President Donald Trump at the White House on Monday, detailed by four sources knowledgeable about the situation.
The document does not explicitly list the weapons Ukraine aims to procure in the agreement but notes Ukraine’s interest in acquiring a minimum of 10 US-made Patriot air defense systems for safeguarding its cities and vital infrastructure, alongside other missiles and military equipment. It remains unspecified what portion of the drone agreement pertains to procurement versus investment.
Ukraine’s proposal aims to align with Trump’s interest in benefiting the American defense sector. When inquired on Monday at the White House about the prospect of further US military aid to Ukraine, Trump responded, “We’re not giving anything. We’re selling weapons.”
Details in the document reveal how Ukraine plans to present a counter-offer to the US after Trump showed signs of siding with Russia’s perspective on ending the conflict a week after his Alaska meeting with President Vladimir Putin.
It reiterates Ukraine’s call for a ceasefire which Trump had espoused but then dropped after his Putin meeting in favour of the pursuit of a comprehensive peace settlement.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz told Trump on Monday during a public portion of the meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other European leaders in Washington that the group would like the US president’s help to secure a ceasefire before any next steps.
“I can’t imagine that the next meeting would take place without a ceasefire,” he said. “So let’s work on that and let’s try to put pressure on Russia because the credibility of these efforts we are undertaking today depends on at least a ceasefire.”
The document says a “lasting peace shall be based not on concessions and free gifts to Putin, but on [a] strong security framework that will prevent future aggression”.
It adds that recent footage in Russian media shows that the Kremlin is not serious about a potential peace deal and holds a low opinion of Trump’s leadership, citing disparaging comments about the US president made by prominent television host Vladimir Solovyov.
In one, he mocks Trump for “threatening” Russia, saying Moscow could “destroy [the US] with nuclear weapons”.
Ukraine will not accept any deal including territorial concessions to Russia and insists on a ceasefire as the first step towards a full peace agreement, according to the document.
According to the document, Kyiv also rejects the proposal Putin made to Trump in Alaska to freeze the rest of the frontline if Ukraine withdraws troops from the partly occupied eastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk. Doing so would create “a foothold for a further and rapid advance of Russian forces towards the city of Dnipro” and enable Putin to “achieve the goals of aggression by other means”, it says.
Ukraine believes Russia’s attempt to settle territorial issues before further talks on a lasting peace agreement would create a fait accompli on the ground while doing nothing to ensure Kyiv’s future security, according to the document.
Kyiv also insists it be given full compensation from Russia for wartime damages, potentially paid for by the $300bn in Russian sovereign assets frozen in western countries. Any sanctions relief should only be granted if Russia complies with the future peace agreement and “plays [a] fair game”, the document adds.