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President Donald Trump has vowed that American troops will not be deployed to Ukraine as part of a peace agreement, instead urging European allies to take the lead on providing security guarantees.
Getting into it: In a Tuesday interview on Fox & Friends, Trump said that under his leadership, US soldiers would not be sent into Ukraine, adding, “You have my assurance, and I’m president.” While rejecting the idea of deploying American troops, Trump left the door open to other forms of US involvement, suggesting that America could support peace efforts without putting boots on the ground. “There’s a lot we can do without troops,” he said. Senior administration officials, speaking to multiple news outlets on the condition of anonymity, suggested that the US role could include drone operations and even intelligence sharing.

Trump was also clear on his position regarding Ukraine’s aspirations to join NATO, calling the possibility “impossible.” He insisted that while NATO membership is off the table, Ukraine could still receive meaningful security protections from European nations. “A couple of countries—France, Germany, the United Kingdom—they want to have boots on the ground,” he said, indicating that Europe would “front load” the security guarantees. Trump positioned these alternative protections as a sufficient compromise to meet Ukraine’s security needs without provoking further escalation with Russia.
On the broader terms of peace, Trump acknowledged that both Ukraine and Russia have tough demands. He made it clear that Ukraine must be willing to make significant concessions, outright saying that their goal of getting Crimea back (which Russia annexed in 2014) is “not happening.”
Russia, meanwhile, is demanding the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, formal recognition of Crimea as Russian territory, and is seeking to limit the size of Ukraine’s military, which many say is unrealistic.