On the 18th (local time), following a bilateral meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, European leaders expressed their welcome for the U.S. intention to participate in Ukraine's security guarantees during a multilateral meeting and showed expectations for a 'North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) style security' approach.

On the 18th (local time), a multilateral meeting involving European leaders is taking place in the East Room of the White House following a bilateral meeting between Donald Trump, the President of the United States, and Volodymyr Zelensky, the President of Ukraine. / AP=Yonhap News

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte noted during his opening remarks ahead of the multilateral meeting with seven European leaders that "your (President Trump) statement about being willing to participate in security guarantees is a significant advancement," adding, "This is a true breakthrough and will really create a big change."

President Trump earlier stated that following his bilateral meeting with President Zelensky, Europe would play a leading role in post-war security while the U.S. would "provide very good protection and security." Secretary General Rutte's remarks praised President Trump's statement, which formalized the U.S. intention to participate in Ukraine's security guarantees.

European leaders seemed eager to secure a commitment to a 'NATO style model' from the U.S. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said, "We will discuss many important topics, the first of which is ensuring security guarantees so that (war) does not happen again," and added, "Gladly, we will start with the NATO 5 article model proposal."

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer also remarked that President Trump's suggestion of a security guarantee in a form similar to the NATO collective defense article 5 aligns with what the 'Alliance of Will,' led by the UK and France, has been trying to achieve. He further stated, "By having the U.S. join what we (the Alliance of Will) have already advanced, I believe we can achieve truly significant progress today."

French President Emmanuel Macron also stated, "The first aspect of security guarantees is a reliable Ukrainian army for the coming years and decades, and the second is our commitment," adding, "We have been diligently working over the last few months, with NATO's support, to establish the foundations for other security guarantees and commitments within the Alliance of Will."

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