PARIS, Aug 18, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - US President Donald Trump has suggested potential security guarantees for Ukraine as part of a future peace deal with Russia. But their scope and implementation remain unclear.

- What would an 'Article 5-like guarantee' look like? -

The United States could offer Ukraine "Article 5-like protection", Trump's Russia envoy Steve Witkoff said after the Alaska summit between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Article 5 is a cornerstone of the NATO Western military alliance, stating that an attack on any member is deemed to be an attack on all.

Each member state must then take the actions "it deems necessary -- including the use of armed force" -- but there is no automatic commitment to direct military action.

French President Emmanuel Macron said that European leaders would ask Trump "to what extent" he would back security guarantees for Ukraine.

- Would Europe go it alone? -

The main uncertainty is whether guarantees would go beyond the material and financial aid already provided to Kyiv since Russia's 2022 full-scale invasion -- and extend to the unlikely prospect of direct military intervention if Moscow resumes hostilities.

The so-called "coalition of the willing" -- some 30 countries led by France and Britain -- says it stands ready to support Ukraine to prevent fighting from resuming.

Military planning has been under way since February and according to several sources includes support for rebuilding Ukraine's army, seen as its main security guarantee, as well as air assets to protect its airspace and Black Sea traffic.

A deployment of "several thousand troops" in Ukraine is also under consideration, Macron said.

"These forces are not intended to hold a front line or be engaged in a hot conflict but to signal solidarity from a strategic point of view," he added.

But European unity around the plan should not be "overstated", according to Rym Momtaz, a researcher at Carnegie Europe.

France, the United Kingdom and the Baltic states have signalled their readiness to participate.

But "those who have large battalions on the ground in Europe do not want to go there", said researcher Stephane Audrand.

"Warsaw and Berlin are saying no for the time being," he added.

Many European countries insist on a US backstop before making any commitment.

Apart from the French, "few within the alliance can imagine military action without the Americans -- not even the British", Audrand said.

- Is Putin setting a 'trap'? -

Security guarantees are billed as a way to prevent fighting from resuming, unlike the Minsk accords of 2014 and 2015, which contained no such provisions.

But past pledges have failed: Russia, the United States and the United Kingdom committed in Budapest in 1994 to respect Ukraine's borders in exchange for its nuclear disarmament -- a deal that "did not work", Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky said.

"Guaranteeing a country's security ultimately means only one thing: being prepared to fight to save it if necessary," said Audrand.

"And that is a sticking point for Europeans."

For Russia specialist Dimitri Minic, "Moscow will not accept any solid security guarantees for Ukraine" -- guarantees that "Washington is not prepared to give anyway".

"Outside of NATO, there is no credible guarantor of Ukrainian security," said Janis Kluge at the Berlin-based SWP think tank.

"Putin will never accept any outcome of the war that leaves Ukraine free and functioning," he added.

"If it seems like Putin is agreeing to this, it's a trap."

BSS/AFP/IJ/2115 hrs