WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump on Tuesday offered his assurances that US troops would not be sent to help defend Ukraine 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 from Russia are “impossible.”
The Republican president, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and other European leaders held hours of talks at the White House on Monday aimed at bringing an end to Russia’s war against Ukraine. While answering questions from journalists, Trump did not rule out sending US troops to participate in a European-led effort to defend Ukraine as part of security guarantees sought by Zelensky.
Trump said after his meeting in Alaska last week with Russian President Vladimir Putin that Putin was open to the idea of security guarantees for Ukraine.
But asked Tuesday on Fox News Channel’s “Fox & Friends” what assurances he could provide going forward and beyond his term that American troops would not be part of defending Ukraine’s border, Trump said, “Well, you have my assurance, and I’m president.”
Trump would have no control over the US military after his terms ends in January 2029.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt later on Tuesday emphasized that “US boots will not be on the ground” as part of any potential peacekeeping mission.
The president also said in the interview that he is optimistic that a deal can be reached to end the Russian invasion, but he underscored that Ukraine will have to set aside its hope of getting back Crimea, which was seized by Russian forces in 2014, and its long-held aspirations of joining the NATO military alliance.
“Both of those things are impossible,” Trump said.
Putin, as part of any potential deal to pull his forces out of Ukraine, is looking for the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, as well as recognition of Crimea as Russian territory.
Trump on Monday said that he was arranging for direct talks between Putin and Zelensky.
But the Kremlin has not yet said whether Putin, who has resisted previous calls by Trump and others for direct negotiations on ending the war, is committed to a face-to-face meeting with the Ukrainian leader.
Asked whether Putin has promised Trump that he’ll meet directly with the Ukrainian leader, Leavitt responded affirmatively. “He has,” Leavitt said of Putin.
Trump early on Monday during talks with Zelensky and European leaders said that he was pressing for three-way talks among Zelensky, Putin and himself.
But after speaking to Putin later in the day, Trump said that he was arranging first for a face-to-face between Zelensky and Putin and that three-way talks would follow if necessary.
“It was an idea that evolved in the course of the president’s conversations with both President Putin, President Zelensky and the European leaders yesterday,” Leavitt explained.
Trump said he believed Putin’s course of action would become clear in the coming weeks.
“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. That I can tell you.”
