A major point of disagreement remains security guarantees. Ukraine has been pushing maximalist demands for something akin to NATO Article 5 protections. It would be like getting all the benefits of being in NATO but without being a formal member of the Western military alliance.

The Ukrainian side has revealed that President Trump had offered security guarantees for 15 years following a peaceful settlement, but Zelensky considered this much too short to protect from future potential Russian aggression.

But in classic Zelensky fashion, he wants way more than this. Also, maximalist demands are something that European leaders have backed him on all along - and they may have even put him up to. According to The Wall Street Journal:

Kyiv had asked for security guarantees to last up to 50 years after the end of the conflict during weekend discussions. In the documents currently being discussed, the U.S. offered a 15-year guarantee with the possibility of extension, Zelensky said in audio messages to journalists on Monday.

That's half a century! Would Congress and the American public sign off on this? Congressional hawks like Lindsey Graham surely would, but others might not want to be hitched to the Ukraine wagon for yet decades more to come.

"We have been at war for almost 15 years, and therefore we would very much like the guarantees to be longer," Zelensky has disclosed that he told Trump. "And I told him that we would very much like to consider the possibility of 30, 40, 50 years, and that this would then be a historic decision by President Trump."

As for Trump, he has said he "would think about it" and further that "There will be a security agreement, it'll be a strong agreement and the European nations are very much involved."

But alas there's been no agreement.

Last week we detailed that Zelensky actually wants to keep the contents of any US-Ukraine security deal a secret. He ultimately would like to bypass the American public and thus potential criticism by keeping the future deal's contents from public knowledge.

"There is a separate document between us and the United States – bilateral security guarantees," the Ukrainian leader wrote on X a week ago. "This is what we see: they must be reviewed by the U.S. Congress, with certain details and annexes remaining classified."