Donald Trump has ruled out deploying American troops to Ukraine as part of any future peace agreement with Vladimir Putin, tempering earlier pledges of security guarantees for Kyiv that European leaders had described as a breakthrough in efforts to end the war.
Trump gives assurance
In a telephone interview with Fox News, the US president was asked whether he could assure listeners that American soldiers would not be sent to Ukraine. “You have my assurance, and I’m president,” he replied.
Trump indicated, however, that Washington could consider providing air support to backstop a settlement. “There’ll be some form of security. It can’t be NATO,” he said, ruling out Ukrainian membership of the transatlantic alliance. “They’re willing to put people on the ground. We’re willing to help them with things, especially, probably, if you could talk about it by air.”
The White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, confirmed that both Putin and the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, had shown “a willingness to sit down with each other”, adding that arrangements for a potential meeting were underway.
It was reported that Hungary had signalled interest in hosting such talks, while the French president, Emmanuel Macron, had suggested Geneva. The Swiss foreign minister has also offered guarantees of “immunity” for Putin despite his indictment by the International Criminal Court.
Russia has repeatedly described the deployment of Nato troops to Ukraine as a red line. Trump, however, dismissed that concern and said he remained optimistic about securing a deal with Moscow.
