President Donald Trump said yesterday the United States would not put troops on the ground in Ukraine but might provide air support as part of a deal to end Russia’s war in the country.
A day after Trump pledged security guarantees to help end the war at an extraordinary White House summit, the path to peace remained uncertain as the US and allies prepared to work out what military support for Ukraine might include.
“When it comes to security, (Europeans) are willing to put people on the ground. We’re willing to help them with things, especially, probably, ... by air,” Trump said in an interview with the Fox News ‘Fox & Friends’ programme.
He did not elaborate. Following Monday’s meeting, Russia launched its biggest air assault in more than a month on Ukraine, and Trump conceded that Russian President Vladimir Putin might not want to make a deal after all.
“We’re going to find out about President Putin in the next couple of weeks,” he said.
The nature of US military aid for Ukraine under a peace deal was unclear. Air support could take many forms such as missile defense systems or fighter jets enforcing a no-fly zone.
White House Press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed US air support was ‘an option and a possibility’, but like Trump did not provide any details.
“The President has definitively stated US boots will not be on the ground in Ukraine, but we can certainly help in the co-ordination and perhaps provide other means of security guarantees to our European allies,” she said at a news briefing.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy hailed the White House talks as a ‘major step forward’ towards ending Europe’s deadliest conflict in 80 years and setting up a trilateral meeting with Putin and Trump in the coming weeks.
Zelenskiy’s warm rapport with Trump contrasted sharply with their disastrous Oval Office meeting in February.
Analysts say more than one million people have been killed or wounded in the conflict, which began with Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.
Russia launched 270 drones and 10 missiles in an overnight attack on Ukraine, the Ukrainian air force said.
The energy ministry said the strikes caused big fires at energy facilities in the central Poltava region, home to Ukraine’s only oil refinery.
However, Russia also returned the bodies of 1,000 dead Ukrainian soldiers yesterday, Ukrainian officials said. Moscow received 19 bodies of its own soldiers in return, according to the state-run Tass news agency.
Ukraine’s allies held talks in the so-called Coalition of the Willing format, discussing additional sanctions to crank up the pressure on Russia.
The grouping has also agreed that planning teams will meet US counterparts in the coming days to develop security guarantees for Ukraine.
Nato military leaders were expected to meet today to discuss Ukraine, with US General Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, expected to attend virtually, officials told Reuters.
“We are now actively working at all levels on the specifics, on what the architecture of the guarantees will look like, with all members of the Coalition of the Willing, and very concretely with the United States,” Zelenskiy said on social media.
Although Trump said on Monday Putin asked for a bilateral meeting with Zelenskiy, the Kremlin has made no explicit commitment. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Tuesday that Moscow did not reject any format for Ukraine peace talks but any meeting of national leaders ‘must be prepared with utmost thoroughness’.
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