President Donald Trump says U.S. troops won’t be involved in any peacekeeping effort in Ukraine after the war, offering his “assurance” that wouldn’t happen a day after he didn’t rule it out while meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European leaders.
Asked in a Aug. 19 Fox News interview “what kind of assurance” there is that American troops won’t be on the ground in Ukraine to defend the country in the future, Trump said “Well, you have my assurance.”
Trump was pressed repeatedly Aug. 18 during an Oval Office meeting with Zelenskyy if he is willing to send American peacekeepers to Ukraine. He said European nations are the “first line of defense” but added “we’re going to help them out also. We’ll be involved.”
Ukraine has sought security guarantees as part of any peace deal to prevent Russia from attacking the country again, and that was a major focus of the Aug. 17 meeting. Trump indicated the U.S. is prepared to help with security, drawing praise from Zelenskyy and European leaders.
“We will speak more about security guarantees,” Zelenskyy said. “This is very important that the United States gives such strong signal and is ready for security guarantees.”
Zelenskyy said he needs U.S. assistance to help Ukraine’s army, as well as weapons and intelligence as part of a peace deal with Russia. Pushed to weigh in, Trump pointed to Europe again, saying “they want to give protection, they feel very strongly about it.”
“And we’ll help them out with that,” Trump said. “I think it’s very important. I think it’s very important to get the deal.”
Sending U.S. troops would be a huge step, though, and a thorny political issue.
During the Fox interview Trump also discussed his Aug. 18 conversation with Putin. He said he didn’t call Putin in front of Zelenskyy and the European leaders.
“I thought that would be disrespectful to President Putin,” Trump said. In describing his relationship with Putin, Trump said “there’s a warmth there.”
Trump is trying to setup a meeting between Putin and Zelenskyy that would be followed by a three-way meeting that he would moderate. He suggested Putin and Zelenskyy are “getting along a little bit better than I thought.”
“Otherwise I wouldn’t have setup the” two-way meeting, he said.
Contributing: Francesca Chambers, Joey Garrison
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: U.S. troops won’t be involved in Ukraine peacekeeping, Trump says
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