Ukraine not required to strike peace deal right now — U.S. journalist Ignatius

David Ignatius, American journalist and The Washington Post deputy editor, expressed this opinion on Espreso TV.

"I'm encouraged by the fact that Trump's team, including his son-in-law Jared Kushner, Steve Witkoff, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, seem genuinely serious about providing Ukraine with security guarantees that, as they say, should be 'similar to NATO's Article 5.' They worked hard on this in Paris during the Coalition of the Willing meeting. And they seem to clearly understand: without security guarantees, the war will simply flare up again, and Trump will find himself in an extremely difficult position. That's definitely not in his interest. So I take this signal as encouraging," Ignatius explained.

The journalist emphasized that fears about a Russian breakthrough near Pokrovsk proved premature, and thus Ukraine is demonstrating to the entire world that it does not intend to easily give up its territory.

"The second point is that it's now January, and Ukraine is demonstrating to both Russia and the entire world that it does not intend to easily surrender its territory. Concerns about a possible breakthrough in the Donetsk region near Pokrovsk turned out to be premature. Ukrainian forces have done truly remarkable work holding the front line and have become even more innovative in using drones. And this war, it appears, is moving into 2026. It remains just as terrible for Ukraine as before, but for Russia it's even more painful," the journalist added.

He emphasized that Ukraine is demonstrating it is not on the verge of collapse. That's precisely why Kyiv is not going to sign an agreement on just any terms.

"In a certain sense, this is already a victory. It demonstrates to Trump, Europe, and the entire world that Ukraine is not going to break or 'fall apart.' Ukraine is not obligated to conclude an agreement right now because it continues to hold firm and fight on. Here are the key elements: security guarantees are gradually strengthening, and Ukraine is showing that it is far from being on the verge of collapse," he concluded.

• On January 15, American leader Donald Trump stated that currently Ukraine, not Russia, is holding back a potential agreement to end the war.