President Donald Trump appeared to rule out sending American troops to Ukraine just one day after he discussed a peacekeeping force with European allies as part of a deal to end the war with Russia.
During a Tuesday morning appearance on Fox & Friends, Trump was asked about what assurances he had, during and after his administration, that U.S. forces wouldn’t be sent to defend Ukraine’s borders against Russian aggression.
“Well, you have my assurance,” Trump responded. “You know I’m president and I’m just trying to stop people from being killed.”
At another point in the interview, Trump said that European leaders were willing to send their soldiers into the country but that the United States could aid Ukraine in other ways. “We’re willing to help them with things, especially probably, if you talk about by air, because there’s nobody has the kind of stuff we have,” Trump added.
Trump’s comments follow a White House meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday in which he did not rule out the possibility.
“Well, we’re going to work with Ukraine, we’re going to work with everybody, and we’re going to make sure that if there’s peace, the peace is going to stay long-term,” Trump told reporters.
“When it comes to security, there’s going to be a lot of help. It’s going to be good,” Trump also said on Monday before a separate meeting with European heads of state.
The president has repeatedly stated that Ukraine will not join NATO as he seeks to reach a peace deal, but Russia has also signaled opposition to anything resembling Article 5-like guarantees as well.
Trump conceded that peace talks are still complicated, as Russian President Vladimir Putin and Zelensky attempted to meet one-on-one.
“We’re going to find out about President Putin in the next couple of weeks, that I can tell you, and we’re going to see where it all goes. It’s possible that he doesn’t want to make a deal,” Trump said on Tuesday.
Trump phoned the Russian leader after his Monday confab at the White House, a call he said he waited to make until he was out of sight of the European leaders. “I didn’t do it in front of them, I thought that would be disrespectful to President Putin,” Trump said. “I wouldn’t do that because they have not had the warmest relations. And actually, President Putin wouldn’t talk to people from Europe.”
Zelensky “has to show some flexibility,” Trump also insisted. Yet Zelensky remains adamant against ceding captured Ukrainian territory to Russia, a major sticking point in negotiations.