President Donald Trump on Tuesday offered his assurances that U.S. troops would not be sent to Ukraine to defend against Russia, after seeming to leave open the possibility the day before. Trump also said in a morning TV interview that Ukraine’s hopes of joining NATO and regaining the Crimean Peninsula are “impossible.”
Details of the security guarantees and Trump’s efforts to arrange peace talks continue to evolve after the U.S. president, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other European leaders held hours of talks at the White House aimed at ending Russia’s war against Ukraine.
European leaders said they want U.S. support for “robust security guarantees,” including the “deployment of a reassurance force” as Trump pursues his campaign promise to end the grinding war.
What to know about efforts to end the Russia-Ukraine war:
- Trump spoke with Putin by phone: Trump spoke with the Russian leader during his meeting with European leaders, later saying he’d begun making arrangements for a meeting between Putin and Zelenskyy. Trump called it “a very good, early step for a War that has been going on for almost four years.” It’s unclear whether Putin has fully signed on to such talks.
- Trepidation from Europe: Many in Europe worry that Trump is pressing Ukraine to make concessions that will only further embolden Putin. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said that “if Russia is not playing ball” on direct talks with Ukraine, “the United States plus Europe will do more when it comes to tariffs and sanctions” on Moscow.
- ‘NATO-like’ security guarantees: Trump stopped short of committing U.S. troops to a collective effort to bolster Ukraine’s security. He said instead that there would be a “NATO-like” security presence and that all those details would be hashed out with EU leaders. NATO itself is underpinned by a political commitment by all member countries to come to the aid of any member whose sovereignty or territory might be under attack.
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