US president suggests security guarantees for Ukraine could see Washington provide air support.
United States President Donald Trump has ruled out sending US troops to Ukraine to guarantee its security in the event of an agreement to end Russia’s war in the country.
Asked during an interview with Fox News on Tuesday what assurances he could provide that US troops would not be deployed to defend Ukraine’s borders, Trump said: “You have my assurance, and I am president. I am just trying to stop people from being killed.”
Trump said that European countries were willing to provide troops to bolster Ukraine’s security, but the US could provide support “by air”.
“We’re willing to help them with things, especially, probably if you talk about by air, because there’s nobody that has the kind of stuff we have,” Trump told the Fox & Friends programme.
“I don’t think it’s going to be a problem.”
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt later reiterated that US troops would not be part of any peace deal between Moscow and Kyiv, but that Washington would assist with “coordination” and “perhaps provide other means of security guarantees”.
Trump’s comments came a day after he hosted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and top European leaders at the White House in his latest push to bring an end to the three-and-a-half-year-long conflict.
While Zelenskyy and European leaders cast Monday’s meeting as positive and productive, the question of how to ensure Ukraine’s post-war security remains a major sticking point in the negotiations on ending the war.
Although Trump has suggested that Russian President Vladimir Putin could agree to the deployment of Western troops in Ukraine to uphold a peace deal, Moscow has repeatedly dismissed the idea.
Russia and Ukraine also appear to be far apart on the issue of territorial concessions and implementing a ceasefire in advance of a comprehensive peace deal.
Trump on Tuesday also elaborated on his plans for a bilateral summit between Putin and Zelenskyy, telling conservative radio host Mark Levin that “they’re in the process of setting it up”.
While Zelenskyy has said he is ready to meet Putin, Moscow has not confirmed that the Russian leader will attend a summit.
On Tuesday, Switzerland’s foreign affairs minister, Ignazio Cassis, told the national broadcaster that his country would be willing to host a Putin-Zelenskyy summit despite the International Criminal Court’s outstanding arrest warrant for the Russian leader.
After attending Monday’s talks at the White House, French President Emmanuel Macron said he was pushing for Geneva to be the location for a summit between the two leaders.
