The U.S. and Ukraine’s European allies have put together a plan of security guarantees containing detailed, robust and serious measures to ensure that any peace deal with Russia holds, according to officials familiar with the proposals.

An 800,000-strong Ukrainian army would provide the first line of postwar deterrence, with weapons and other support programs continuing from allies to ensure it’s suitably equipped and trained.

The U.S. would provide intelligence and monitoring to track any attempts to breach the peace agreement along contact lines and borders, including through potential Russian false-flag operations.

Troops from a coalition of European nations would be stationed away from the front lines to bolster confidence, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private deliberations. A group of European leaders said in a statement after talks this week that a multinational force could operate inside Ukraine as part of security measures.

Ukraine’s military would act as the first line of defense if hostilities erupted again, while Kyiv’s allies would quickly implement diplomatic and deconfliction measures to try to stop the conflict from spiraling. Within days, though, they would provide military support backed by U.S. capabilities if those attempts failed, according to the people.

The multi-layered approach and U.S. commitment to security guarantees have spurred optimism in Ukraine and Europe that the peace plan could potentially provide a credible deterrent against future Russian aggression. U.S. officials describe the guarantees as similar to NATO’s Article 5 mutual-defense pledge, while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he’s secured a commitment from Washington to make them legally binding through a vote in Congress.

“For us, it is a principal thing that it is voted in the Congress,” Zelenskyy said Thursday in an audio message to reporters. “Secondly, that it is like Article 5 of NATO. Thirdly, that we know how partners will react in case of repetition of Russian aggression.”

Ukraine’s negotiating team is heading to the U.S. for another round of talks with American officials on Friday and Saturday, Zelenskyy said.

The Kremlin is preparing for contacts with the U.S. on the results of the discussions between Washington, Kyiv and the European Union, President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, told reporters on Thursday, without elaborating.

Putin’s envoy Kirill Dmitriev may travel to Florida to meet with U.S. officials this weekend, according to a person with knowledge of the plans, asking not to be identified because the matter is sensitive. The person cautioned the plans were not finalized.

Dmitriev didn’t respond to a message requesting comment. His spokesperson declined to comment.

It’s unclear if Putin is willing to accept the security measures set out in the U.S. and European plan. He has repeatedly rejected the presence of troops from NATO member states in Ukraine, and the Kremlin has previously demanded stricter limits on the size and capabilities of the Ukrainian armed forces.

Putin has also shown no sign he’s willing to compromise on Russia’s demands for territorial concessions from Ukraine. At a meeting with Defense Ministry officials in Moscow on Wednesday, he repeated his claim that Russia will achieve its goals either through negotiation or “by military means.”

Still, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov voiced optimism in an interview with ABC News this week that “we’re on the verge of resolving this terrible crisis,” without elaborating.

U.S. President Donald Trump also told reporters that a negotiated end to the war was “closer than” ever, and he appeared to suggest that Ukraine ought to give up land to Russia as part of the deal.

Russia wants to take control over Ukraine’s entire eastern Donbas area, including territory its forces have failed to capture in more than a decade of fighting since 2014 as well as during the full-scale invasion that Putin ordered in 2022.

Zelenskyy said Thursday that Ukraine isn’t ready to withdraw troops from Donbas.

He’s taking part in a meeting of E.U. leaders gathered in Brussels Thursday for summit talks on approving a massive loan to Ukraine backed by frozen Russian assets that Kyiv says is vital for its ability to continue defending itself.

Pressure was mounting on Belgium, where most of the assets are held, to drop opposition to the plan. Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, whose country holds the E.U.’s rotating presidency, said she’d be willing to vote through the loan without Belgium “if necessary” as a single member of the 27-nation group “shouldn’t be able to block what is the right thing to do.”

“Europe must be able to make the decisions necessary to protect our populations,” Frederiksen told reporters in Brussels. “I would much prefer that we find a solution in unity, but the clock is ticking.”

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—With assistance from Julius Domoney.

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