President Donald Trump has ruled out sending American troops to help enforce a potential peace deal in Ukraine, despite him expressing an openness to the idea.
In a phone interview on Fox News, Trump was asked: “What kind of assurances do you feel like you have, going forward, past this Trump administration, that it won’t be American boots on the ground defending (Ukraine’s) border?”
“Well, you have my assurance, and I’m president,” Trump responded.
A White House official confirmed Tuesday that Trump is “emphatic” about not sending US troops to protect Ukraine. But, that person added, there are other ways for the US to ensure Kyiv is protected.
Foreign leaders want to know what resources Trump will commit to ensure that, once a potential peace deal is reached, Russia isn’t able to regroup and go after more territory down the road.
Zelensky hailed the talks involving Trump and key European leaders as a “significant step” toward ending the war.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov refused to commit to a meeting between Putin and Zelensky, but stopped short of ruling out further talks.
European Council President António Costa says adding that strong pressure through sanctions should be maintained if the Kremlin does not halt the conflict.
“After three and a half years of war, diplomatic activity is accelerating, and there is growing momentum around providing Ukraine with security guarantees, including the agreement of United States President Trump to participate in this effort. We welcome this,” Costa said Tuesday in a news conference in Lisbon, Portugal, following a video conference with EU leaders.
“Now is the time to accelerate our practical work, to put in place a guarantee similar to NATO’s Article Five, with continued United States engagement,” Costa said.
Credit: bbc.com
