Trump’s advisor says Ukraine will receive security guarantees in exchange for occupied territories

US National Security Advisor Mike Waltz stated on March 16 that in a future agreement to end Russia’s war, Ukraine will receive unspecified security guarantees in exchange for unspecified territorial concessions.

Waltz also stated that the United States is considering “the reality of the situation on the ground” in diplomatic talks when discussing an end to the war in Ukraine. He said this on ABC News.

The host asked Trump’s adviser about the possible outlines of an agreement to end the war, specifying whether it would include the loss of territories.

Waltz replied that it was about elements of a future agreement that had been discussed in 2022 (he did not specify, but probably meant the talks in Turkey), “and even earlier.”

“It will be about a kind of ‘territory in exchange for future security guarantees, the future status of Ukraine,’” he said.

Waltz did not specify what these “security guarantees” might be but recalled the Trump administration’s position that Ukraine’s accession to NATO is “very unlikely.”

The ABC News host asked whether this meant that Russia would get the territories in eastern Ukraine and Crimea, even though it was Russia that invaded Ukraine.

“We have to ask ourselves whether the proposal is in our national interest, whether it is realistic. We talked about this with both Europeans and Ukrainians. Are we going to drive every Russian from every inch of Ukrainian soil, including Crimea?” the US presidential adviser replied.

He then criticized the strategy of the previous administration of Joe Biden, which led to “endless fighting” and increased the risk of “World War III.

“So we can talk about what is right and wrong, but we also have to talk about the real situation on the ground. And that’s what we’re doing—through diplomacy, through shuttle diplomacy, through proximity talks,” Waltz summarized.

Russian officials have frequently used the narrative that any talks must consider the “realities on the ground” to refer to the current frontline in Ukraine and their claims of the inevitability of further Russian battlefield gains.

This is not the first such signal from the Trump administration.

For example, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said this week that Ukraine would have to make concessions on the territories that Russia has seized since 2014 as part of any agreement to end the war.

However, according to the ISW analysts, Waltz’s acknowledgment that Ukraine will receive unspecified security guarantees is a key aspect of achieving US President Donald Trump’s stated goal of securing a lasting peace in Ukraine.