Trump Says US Air Support Possible For Ukraine Security Guarantee
"When it comes to security, they're willing to put people on the ground," he told Fox News, referring to European allies whom he met in the White House on Monday.
"We're willing to help them with things, especially, probably, if you talk about by air, because no one has the kind of stuff we have, really, they don't," Trump said.
He added his "assurance" that no US ground troops would deploy to Ukraine, and he categorically ruled out Ukraine joining the Western military alliance NATO.
Post-war security is a key concern for Kyiv after more than three years of Russian invasion. Moscow has long said it will not tolerate Ukraine joining NATO and has been hostile to the idea of Western troops deploying to the former Soviet territory.
Trump said that "France and Germany, a couple of them, UK -- they want to have boots on the ground."
"I don't think it's going to be a problem, to be honest with you. I think, I think Putin is tired of" the war, he added.
Trump said that following his talks Monday with European leaders he is pushing to organize a bilateral summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky -- followed by another where he will join.
"I called President Putin, and we're trying to work out a meeting with President Zelensky. We'll see what happens there," he said. "If that works out, if it works out, then I'll go to the trilat and close it up."
Saying it was possible Putin would back out, Trump said "I hope President Putin's going to be good and if not, it's going to be a rough situation."
Zelensky "has to show some flexibility also."
In addition to the question of guaranteeing Ukraine's future security, the other key sticking point in ending the war is the status of the huge swaths of land occupied by Russia.
Trump said Ukraine has to accept it will not get its lost territories back -- including the eastern Donbas region -- but in return will get peace.
"I assume you've all seen the map. You know, a big chunk of territory is taken and that territory has been taken. Now they're talking about Donbas, but Donbas right now, as you know, is 79 percent owned and controlled by Russia," Trump said.
The US leader said Ukraine was not powerful enough to change the situation.
"This was a war and Russia is a powerful military nation, you know. Whether people like it or not, it's a powerful nation. It's a much bigger nation," he said. "You don't take, you don't take on a nation that's 10 times your size."
"Everybody can play cute and this and that, but, you know, Ukraine is going to get their life back," Trump said about a peace deal involving Ukraine surrendering land. "They're going to stop having people killed all over the place and they're going to get a lot of land."
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
DW
an hour ago
- DW
Germany: Arrest made over Nord Stream pipeline explosions – DW – 08/21/2025
The Russian-European gas pipeline was the target of a deliberate attack in September 2022. German prosecutors announced on Thursday that an arrest had been made over an alleged 2022 attack on the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines that brought Russian gas to Europe. The suspect, a Ukrainian national, was detained in Italy, they said, thanking their Italian counterparts and other intertional law enforcement for their assistance. Danish authorities detected a series of underwater explosions on September 26, 2022, near the Nord Stream equipment. The suspected sabotage and consequent gas leaks rendered 3 pipelines inoperable. Controversial even before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, they became even more so after Moscow's war of aggression began in February 2022. As a result, the pipelines were filled with gas but not running at the time of the attack as part of some of the first sanctions against the Russian government. Nord Stream 1 and 2 were just some of the 23 pipelines that brought Russian gas to Europe before the invasion. As the explosions occured in Swedish and Danish waters on German equipment, all three countries launched investigations. In August 2024, German authorities concluded their initial investigation and issued an arrest warrant for a Ukrainian national named only as Volodymyr Z. due to German privacy laws. Officials said that he had been living in Poland and had chartered a German yacht to carry out the attack. However, a Thursday statement by prosecutors listed the suspect arrested in Rimini, Italy as one Serhii K., who was "part of a group of individuals" that took part in the crime. The Ukrainian government has vehemently denied any involvement in the incident.
DW
2 hours ago
- DW
Uganda agrees to conditional US migrant deal – DW – 08/21/2025
Uganda said it would accept some migrants deported from the US, but not those with criminal records. The Trump administration earlier deported migrants to the third countries of Eswatini and South Sudan. Uganda has agreed to accept deported migrants from the United States under a deal made with President Donald Trump's administration. "This is a temporary arrangement with conditions, including that individuals with criminal records and unaccompanied minors will not be accepted," Vincent Bagiire Waiswa, permanent secretary of Uganda's Foreign Affairs Ministry, said in a statement Thursday. The deal was first reported Tuesday by CBS News, which said the US has made a similar agreement with Honduras as part of its effort to increase expulsions of migrants to countries where they lack citizenship. Uganda said it prefers to receive individuals with African nationalities under the agreement. "The two parties are working out the detailed modalities on how the agreement shall be implemented," Waiswa said. Uganda, a US ally in East Africa, already hosts nearly 2 million refugees and asylum-seekers, mostly from nearby countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo, South Sudan and Sudan. It's not the first time the Trump administration has deported migrants to third countries. In July, the US deported five men with criminal backgrounds to the southern African kingdom of Eswatini and sent eight more to South Sudan. The government of Rwanda also said last month that it had agreed to receive migrant detainees from the US. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video
Int'l Business Times
2 hours ago
- Int'l Business Times
First Security Guarantees, Then Putin Summit, Zelensky Says
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he could meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin, but only after his allies agreed on security guarantees for Ukraine that would deter future Russian attacks once the fighting stops. In comments released Thursday, he also warned both sides were preparing for further fighting, with Russia building up troops on the southern front line and Ukraine test launching a new long-range cruise missile. US Donald Trump is seeking to end Russia's three-and-a-half year invasion of Ukraine with a flurry of talks with Zelensky and Putin, upending a years-long Western policy of isolating the Russian leader. "We want to have an understanding of the security guarantees architecture within seven to 10 days," Zelensky said, in comments to reporters released for publication Thursday. "We need to understand which country will be ready to do what at each specific moment," he said. A group of allies led by Britain and France are putting together a military coalition to support the guarantees. Once an outline of the security guarantees is agreed, Trump would like to see a bilateral meeting between Putin and Zelensky, the Ukrainian leader said. But he added that any meeting with the Russian leader should he held in a "neutral" European country and ruled out any summit in Moscow. "Switzerland, Austria -- we agree... For us, Turkey is a NATO country and part of Europe. And we are not opposed," Zelensky said of possible venues. And he added that he did not want China playing any role in guaranteeing Ukraine's security, citing Beijing's alleged support for Moscow. "We do not need guarantors who do not help Ukraine and did not help Ukraine at the time when we really needed it," Zelensky said. The Ukrainian leader's comments came as Russia launched hundreds of drones and missiles against Ukraine overnight in the biggest barrage since mid-July, killing one person and wounding many others. Ukrainian officials said on Thursday that the barrage of 574 drones and 40 missiles showed Russia was not serious about a peace deal, despite intensive US diplomatic efforts in recent days. Zelensky meanwhile announced that Ukraine had tested a long-range cruise missile known as Flamingo that can strike targets as far as 3,000 kilometres (1,864 miles) away and said mass production could begin by February. "The missile has undergone successful tests. It is currently our most successful missile," he told reporters. Since Trump took the White House earlier this year and began pushing for an end to the fighting, Russian forces have continued to slowly but steadily gain ground across the front line. Zelensky has said that Russian forces were building up troops along the front in Zaporizhzhia region, which Moscow claims as its own along with four other Ukrainian regions. Trump met Putin in Alaska, before bringing Zelensky and European leaders to Washington for separate talks earlier this week. Zelensky has said the only way to end the war is a meeting with Putin, and has said Trump should be present too. But Moscow has played down the prospect of a summit between Putin and Zelensky any time soon, and has said it wants to be included in discussions on future security guarantees for Ukraine.
