News outlets including Reuters reported on Saturday that the US had sent a document asking European governments what they could contribute to security guarantees, but the full text obtained by Reuters shows the US is also asking what they would need from Washington to be able to contribute.
That element will be welcomed by many European governments, who have made clear they could only provide security guarantees with US backing.
“What, if any, US support requirements would your government consider necessary for its participation in these security arrangements? Specifically, which short-term and long-term resources do you think will be required from the US?,” one of the questions asked.
Two European diplomats said there was still a debate on how European capitals would respond, but some believed it should be a collective answer.
Some European leaders, including those of Britain and Germany, will meet in Paris on Monday for an emergency Ukraine summit.
The document also asks which European and/or third countries they believed could or would participate in such an arrangement, and whether their country would be willing to deploy troops to Ukraine as part of a peace settlement.
“If third Country military forces were to be deployed to Ukraine as part of a peace arrangement, what would you consider to be the necessary size of such a European-led force? How and where would these forces be deployed, and for how long?,” the document showed.
