Donald Trump has signalled his support for a package of security guarantees for Ukraine, including foreign boots on Ukrainian soil from around 10 European countries, in a new push to pressure Russian president Vladimir Putin into ending the conflict.
Trump ruled out sending US boots on the ground, but said America could offer air support to maintain peace.
A day after their high-stakes talks in the White House on Monday, European leaders yesterday discussed the details of how a peacekeeping force would be deployed from roughly 10 countries, according to Bloomberg.
“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 on Fox News.
Trump continues to push Putin to meet Zelensky while admitting the conflict was a “tough one” to solve and that it is possible the Russian leader “doesn’t want to make a deal”.
“I think Putin is tired of it,” Trump said. “I think they’re all tired of it. But you never know. We’re going to find out about president Putin in the next couple of weeks.”
US and European allies begin planning for Ukraine security options
U.S. and European military planners have started exploring post-conflict security guarantees for Ukraine, U.S. officials and sources told Reuters on Tuesday. This follows a pledge from President Donald Trump to help defend the country under any agreement to end Russia’s war. Ukraine and its European allies were encouraged by Trump’s promise of security assurances for Kyiv, made during a Monday summit, though many questions still remain unanswered.
The Pentagon is conducting planning exercises on the support Washington could offer beyond providing weapons, officials said. They cautioned, however, that determining what would be both militarily feasible and acceptable to the Kremlin would take time. One option involves sending European forces to Ukraine, with the U.S. in charge of their command and control. Sources familiar with the matter told Reuters these troops would operate under their own nations’ flags, not a Nato banner.
Neither the Pentagon nor Nato has commented on the idea. The White House stated the U.S. could help coordinate a security guarantee for Ukraine.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry has ruled out the deployment of Nato troops to help secure a peace deal.
While Trump has publicly ruled out deploying US troops in Ukraine, he appeared to leave the door open to other military involvement on Tuesday. In a Fox News interview, he suggested Washington could provide air support.
“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 because nobody has stuff we have, really they don’t have,” Trump said, without elaborating. U.S. air support could involve more air defence systems or enforcing a no-fly zone with US fighter jets.
Since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, the United States has shipped billions of dollars’ worth of weapons and munitions to Kyiv. The Trump administration briefly halted these shipments, including after contentious White House meetings with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in February and July. Shipments have since resumed, and Trump has pledged to send primarily defensive weapons to assist the war-torn country.
Nato military chiefs will focus on Ukraine and the way forward during a virtual meeting on Wednesday, first reported by Reuters. U.S. Air Force General Alexus Grynkewich, who also oversees Nato operations in Europe, will brief defence chiefs on last week’s Alaska meeting between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
A U.S. official, speaking anonymously, confirmed that U.S. General Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, is expected to attend and will meet European counterparts in Washington on Tuesday evening.
As Trump continues to press for a quick end to Europe’s deadliest war in 80 years, Kyiv and its allies worry he could seek to force an agreement on Russia’s terms, especially after the warm welcome he extended to Putin last week.
Russia maintains its actions in Ukraine are a “special military operation” to protect national security, claiming Nato’s eastward expansion and Western military support pose existential threats. Kyiv and its Western allies, conversely, describe the invasion as an imperial-style land grab.
With reporting from Reuters
Bessent claims Trump had Putin ‘on his heels’ and European allies came to DC out of ‘deference’ not flattery
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent offered insights into President Donald Trump’s interactions with Russian President Vladimir Putin, including their recent meeting in Alaska and ongoing efforts towards peace in Ukraine, during an appearance on Fox News.
Speaking on Laura Ingraham’s show, The Ingraham Angle, Bessent claimed President Trump had the Russian leader “on his heels” during their encounter.
“President Trump had a great meeting with President Putin in Alaska, my take was he had President Putin on his heels for most of the event after the flyover [of military jets],” Bessent said.
He further detailed a phone call between the two leaders following President Trump’s summit with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and European counterparts. Bessent suggested Putin was keen for the conversation: “Well, the president gave him the option, I could call you or send a message. Putin said well, I will be up for 15 more minutes, or you can call tomorrow. And I think Putin wanted the call that night. So that showed he was eager to hear what the president had to say.”
Bessent also asserted that President Trump had secured security guarantees for Ukraine from Putin. Addressing reports that President Trump had been flattered by U.S. allies at Monday’s summit to get him onside, the Treasury secretary countered: “Trump had a strategy the whole time, I don’t think it’s flattery. I think it’s deference because they understand that Trump is the only person in the world who can stop this conflict.”
Bessent also discussed the imposition of secondary tariffs on India and China due to their economic support for Russia. “We already have very high tariffs on China. And now India is going to see what it feels like,” he warned.
Trump backs foreign boots and air support for Ukraine
Donald Trump has signalled his support for a package of security guarantees for Ukraine, including foreign boots on Ukrainian soil from around 10 European countries, in a new push to pressure Russian president Vladimir Putin into ending the conflict.
Trump ruled out sending US boots on the ground, but said America could offer air support to maintain peace.
A day after their high-stakes talks in the White House on Monday, European leaders yesterday discussed the details of how a peacekeeping force would be deployed from roughly 10 countries, according to Bloomberg.
“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 on Fox News.
The European leaders have discussed the size and positioning of the foreign troops along the Ukraine frontline to prevent future military escalation.
Trump is prepared to ‘crush’ Russia’s economy if no progress on peace talks, senator says
Senator Lindsey Graham has indicated that Donald Trump may now be prepared to back a bipartisan sanctions bill aimed at crippling Russia’s economy, following a phone call between the two.
Speaking to The Associated Press on Tuesday, Senator Graham stated that if peace negotiations between Ukraine and Russia do not show significant progress by next month, then a “Plan B” would need to be activated. For months, the Republican senator has been a vocal proponent of imposing severe tariffs on nations that provide financial support for Russia’s military actions.
Following his conversation with Mr Trump, Senator Graham suggested a shift in the president’s stance.
He told reporters in South Carolina: “Trump believes that if Putin doesn’t do his part, that he’s going to have to crush his economy. Because you got to mean what you say.”
ANALYSIS: This was worse than the last time Trump met Zelensky. It was also deeply weird
Holly Baxter writes:
After Friday’s red carpet love-in with Russian president Vladimir Putin, President Trump sat down with Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky today at the Oval Office to talk peace and the world hoped it would go better than the last White House meeting between the U.S. and Ukraine.
Before meeting with Zelensky, or any other world leaders in town for the event, Trump was already telling reporters that peace could come “almost immediately” if Zelensky ditched NATO and gifted Putin Crimea – the diplomatic equivalent of telling someone to end a mugging by handing over their wallet and the deed to their house.
Zelensky, of course, is a man in the awkward position of being the democratically elected leader of the country Trump’s friend is currently trying to dismantle. And the body language of today’s meeting told its own story: gone were the grinning asides and admiring jokes, replaced with the brittle civility of a man forced to pose with the victim while still swooning over the perpetrator.
Read on…
Over half of Americans say they want the U.S. to be involved in Ukraine-Russia peace talks: poll
President Donald Trump announced on Monday that he has begun making arrangements for a trilateral meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
A new poll shows that more than half of Americans want the U.S. to be “involved” in peace negotiations between the two countries.
A YouGov poll, released Tuesday, shows that 62 percent of Americans say the U.S. should be involved in peace talks, with 24 percent saying the U.S. should be “very” involved, while 37 percent say it should be “somewhat” involved. By contrast, only 22 percent say the country should not be involved.
On Monday, Trump met with Zelensky and a group of European leaders at the White House, days after meeting with Putin in Alaska on Friday.
The poll also revealed that 41 percent of Americans “strongly or somewhat approve” of Trump’s recent meeting with Vladimir Putin in Russia to discuss the war, while 38 percent disapprove.
Similarly, 35 percent of Americans said they approve of how Trump is handling the Russia-Ukraine conflict, while 45 percent disapprove.
What could US and Europe security guarantees look like for Ukraine?
World leaders gathered in Washington on Monday for a summit billed as a potential turning point in efforts to end the most significant ground war in Europe since the Second World War.
In the Oval Office, Donald Trump hosted Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky and senior European figures to thrash out what security guarantees for Ukraine might look like if a peace deal with Russia can be reached.
The meeting was described as “historic” by Sir Keir Starmer, who has emerged as one of the driving forces behind Europe’s response.
Tom Watling has the story.
Witkoff calls Trump ‘legend’ at dealmaking — Americans aren’t so sure, poll shows
On Tuesday evening, Special Envoy Steve Witkoff told Sean Hannity on Fox News that President Donald Trump is a “legend” when it comes to dealmaking.
Witkoff made the remark during a discussion about the talks he has held over the past week with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, and the leaders of European allied nations.
However, Americans might need more convincing, given the results of the latest Economist/YouGov poll.
Per The Economist:
Donald Trump claims to have ended six wars in six months and has been angling for a Nobel Peace Prize. Americans are less convinced of his diplomatic prowess. In February, his net approval rating—the share who approve, less the share who disapprove—for foreign policy was 2. It has since fallen steadily. In this week’s survey—which began on the day that Mr Trump met Vladimir Putin, Russia’s president, in Alaska and ended on the day Volodymyr Zelensky, his Ukrainian counterpart, visited the White House—it was -14. More Americans think Mr Trump is an ineffective negotiator with foreign leaders than believe he is an effective one. Just 32% said that the American and Russian presidents made at least some progress towards ending the war. Mr Trump’s net approval rating for his handling of the Ukraine-Russia conflict is -10.
Trump holding court in Oval Office branded ‘embarrassing’ as world leaders sit around his desk
Mike Bedigan reports.
ICYMI: Zelensky says he’s ready to talk to Trump and Putin to end war in Ukraine
The Ukrainian president made the pledge during talks with his US counterpart at the White House, hastily convened after President Trump’s encounter with Putin last Friday.
When Mr Trump suggested that all three leaders could gather if Monday night’s talks went well, Mr Zelensky added: “We are ready for trilateral.”
Sam Kiley and Andrew Feinberg filed this report on Monday’s meeting.
