American political and security expert Stephen Bryan has described US security guarantees for Ukraine as an extremely dangerous step, warning that it would drag America into war. In an interview with 'The Guardian', Bryan stated that Ukrainians see Washington as their savior from defeat, which is why they strongly desire the presence of the United States in Ukraine. Bryan has over 50 years of experience in the fields of arms and security. Among the high-level positions he has held are serving in Congress as the staff director for the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, in the Department of Defense as the Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Industrial Policy, and in the private sector as the president of a multinational defense and technology company. Here are excerpts from the interview: ■ What type of security guarantees did American negotiators offer Ukraine in the recent talks in Berlin? Why do you consider this a dangerous position? ■ ■ Well, the details of these talks are not known; we only have news reports and leaks about what was discussed and what the United States proposed, but it seems there is a general view that the US has offered security guarantees, including deploying troops in Ukraine to secure the agreement, which is an extremely sensitive issue. ■ Any such guarantee would require a Senate ratification. ■ ■ More importantly, the idea of the United States committing to provide a security guarantee with its troops, weapons, and capabilities is an extremely dangerous step, because the situation there is very volatile, and the Ukrainians want to draw us into the war. They see us as their savior from defeat, so they strongly desire the presence of the United States in Ukraine. ■ But do you think Trump would agree to this? ■ ■ Well, he has proposed it, if the news from Berlin is correct. I have not seen any reaction from the administration denying these reports, so we are offering security guarantees with American troops. I thought it was just paper guarantees, but they are talking about deploying American soldiers and other forces there. The Ukrainians want the American army in Ukraine because they want the United States to be committed to the war. Their only hope for victory is for the US to fight for them, and now they are talking about British, French, and other troops in Ukraine as well. If this happens, and if there is any provocation from either side—and there will be provocations—America will go to war. But I thought the goal of these negotiations was to find a solution that the Russians would also agree to. ■ The Russians won't agree to it, but that doesn't mean the US won't do it, and is this what they are offering Ukraine now? ■ ■ I don't think they have reached the stage of a formal offer, but once you say, 'We will provide security guarantees and send 10,000 troops to Kyiv or anywhere else,' you have created all the conditions for a war to break out. ■ Don't written security guarantees, even without the presence of troops, pose the same type of danger? ■ ■ Yes, I think so, perhaps not immediately, because they are not there. They would have to be deployed, and there must be a basis for it. But look, even the administration of former President Joe Biden struggled with the idea of offering security guarantees to Ukraine in the form of an agreement without ground troops; they were never able to draft an agreement that was valuable to the Ukrainians or even to the United States. You can get an agreement, a collective security treaty (a defense treaty), if you want. Nothing is stopping that, but it must be ratified by Congress. ■ Let's say there is some kind of ceasefire, and American troops are stationed in Ukraine, and then fighting breaks out again, what happens next? ■ ■ This type of security guarantee is actually worse than Ukraine joining NATO. NATO can only act by consensus. If one of the members of the alliance is attacked, you rely on Article 5, which means all members must agree unanimously to take action, and if one of them objects, it cannot be done. But if you place this kind of force in Ukraine with a guarantee, you are now legally obligated to go to war, while at the same time avoiding the need for any unanimous consent from other parties in NATO, such as Turkey or Hungary, for example.
