Security guarantees for Ukraine must include automatic sanctions, expert says

According to Ukrinform, this opinion was expressed by Benjamin Jensen, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C, as reported by CBC News.

“To give the agreement teeth, negotiators should define clear, automatic sanctions triggers that would take effect immediately if Russia violates the ceasefire, ensuring that any breach carries predictable and escalating costs,” Jensen said.

He noted that in previous conflicts Russia has typically used ceasefires to redeploy its forces rather than seek long-term peace. “Finally, even under a truce, NATO and Western states must maintain robust commitments to Ukraine's defense capacity through training, equipping, and ensuring interoperability across allied forces so that Moscow understands renewed aggression will meet immediate and credible resistance,” the expert stressed.

Jensen reminded that the Minsk agreements, which lacked enforcement mechanisms, ultimately failed. “A ceasefire in Ukraine must be more than a pause. It needs enforcement across the land, sea, air, cyber, and space domains backed by sanctions and robust defense commitments,” he concluded.

As Ukrinform reported, this week President Volodymyr Zelensky met in the Oval Office of the White House with U.S. President Donald Trump in a bilateral format. During the meeting, Zelensky expressed hope that American and European leaders would help find a diplomatic path to end the war and said he expected a trilateral meeting of the leaders of Ukraine, the U.S., and Russia.

Later, an expanded-format meeting was held with the participation of the presidents of the U.S. and Ukraine, along with European leaders who came to Washington to discuss ways to end the war in Ukraine.

The United States is ready to support European partners in implementing security guarantees for Ukraine by providing assistance in the air. Trump also said that the U.S. is prepared to offer Ukraine security guarantees together with other countries—but not in the form of NATO membership.