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President Donald Trump has indicated that the United States will offer limited security support to Ukraine without committing additional financial aid.

Getting into it: During remarks at the White House, Trump clarified that while the US intends to contribute to Ukraine’ssecurity, no specifics have been decided regarding the nature or extent of those guarantees. “We don’t even know what the security guarantee is because we haven’t even discussed the specifics of it,” Trump said, adding that Washington would play a role but expects European nations to provide the primary guarantees. He reiterated that the US is no longer“spending money” on Ukraine and emphasized that support will now come in the form of weapons sales to NATO, which in turn are intended to benefit Ukraine. Trump has signaled that any future involvement will be conditioned on securing a broader peace deal, stating, “If we get a deal—and I think we will—I don’t believe we’re going to have much of a problem.”

Pentagon officials have echoed Trump’s stance. Defense Undersecretary for Policy Elbridge Colby told allied military leaders that the US plans to play only a small role in any formal security guarantees for Ukraine, reinforcing the expectation that Europe will bear the bulk of the responsibility. His statements were delivered during a high-level meeting with NATO defense chiefs, where European officials pressed the US to clarify its position. According to some reports, Colby’s message made it evident that the US is stepping back from long-term security commitments and focusing instead on ensuring alignment with President Trump’s strategic priorities.

Meanwhile, Trump has shown openness to deploying US airpower as a means of providing a US security guarantee.

These developments come amid Russian officials rejecting proposals from Western countries to offer security guarantees to Ukraine. Former Russian President and now Deputy Chair of Russia’s Security Council, Dmitry Medvedev, recently said, “it’s been explicitly stated: NO NATO troops as peacekeepers. Russia won’t accept such a security guarantee.”

In addition, there’s growing skepticism over the prospects for direct peace talks. Trump previously claimed he had initiated arrangements for a summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, but Russian officials have shown little interest in such a meeting. Trump acknowledged the diplomatic deadlock, commenting that “Putin doesn’t want to meet with Zelensky because he doesn’t like him,” and added that Zelensky “doesn’t like Putin either.”