The day after the Alaska summit and the joint conference between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, it emerges that the US president has proposed"security guarantees" to Ukraine similar to those of NATO but without membership in the Atlantic Alliance. Diplomatic sources report that the White House resident (pictured with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte last July) informed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky – who will travel to Washington on Monday – and European leaders of the proposal."As one of the security guarantees for Ukraine, the American side has proposed a guarantee similar to an Article 5 outside of NATO, presumably agreed with Putin," the source stated. Yesterday, the Russian leader said in his eight-minute speech:"I hope that the agreement we have reached together will help us get closer to this goal and pave the way for peace in Ukraine. We hope that Kiev and the European capitals will address it constructively and not try to hinder the process. They will not try to use secret agreements to stage provocations and sabotage nascent progress."

What is Article 5 – Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty establishes the principle of collective defense : an armed attack against one or more member states in Europe or North America will be considered an attack against them all, and each member state will assist the attacked state or states by such action as it deems necessary, including the use of armed force, to restore and maintain the security of the North Atlantic area. In practice, if a NATO country is attacked, all other members are required to intervene to defend it. This intervention is not automatic but may include the use of military force, if necessary, and is decided by the North Atlantic Council and individual national parliaments.

Meloni's proposal – This possibility of security guarantees without NATO membership was hypothesized and proposed at the London summit last March by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. The Prime Minister's proposal envisaged that Ukraine would not be allowed to join NATO, relieving it of the burden of financially supporting the Alliance and hosting Pact troops and bases on its territory, while still enjoying the security guarantees provided for in Article 5: in the event of an invasion, NATO countries would intervene militarily to defend it. This way, Putin would not find himself with Alliance soldiers on Ukrainian territory, unless he decided to invade again; the US and Europe would not have to worry about continuously supporting Kiev's security.

The crucial point remains security guarantees to prevent further Russian invasions, and this is the aspect on which the most interesting developments were recorded in Anchorage."Only robust and credible guarantees in this regard can prevent new wars and aggression," declared the Prime Minister after the Trump-Putin meeting in Alaska."In this regard, President Trump today reiterated the Italian idea of security guarantees inspired by NATO's Article 5," she added."The starting point of the proposal is the definition of a collective security clause that allows Ukraine to benefit from the support of all its partners, including the US, ready to take action in the event of further attack. European states remain united in supporting Ukraine in this phase of negotiations. The path to peace is not easy, but it is important that it has been undertaken."

Tajani and Ukraine's security – "We will continue to support Kiev and propose a sort of NATO Article 5 to ensure that Ukraine, also in the future, has military protection from any attempt by the Russian Federation to restart a war," Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani also declared, commenting on Speciale Tg4 on the joint statement by European leaders – "No to a veto on Kiev in the EU and NATO. Borders cannot be changed by force" – after the Alaska summit."It is important that the Italian proposal, that of Article 5 bis, a NATO model for Ukraine, has become a topic of discussion. Putin himself had to admit that Ukraine's security must be beyond question." The Kremlin leader had said: "President Trump spoke about this today, that, naturally, Ukraine's security must be guaranteed, and we are ready to work on this."