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US President Donald Trump ruled out sending American troops to help defend Ukraine against Russia after seemingly leaving the possibility open the day before.
In a morning TV interview, Trump also said that Ukraine’s hopes of joining NATO and regaining the Crimean Peninsula from Russia are both “impossible.”
Trump, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other European leaders held hours of talks in Washington on Monday aimed at bringing an end to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Answering questions from journalists in the White House, Trump did not rule out sending US troops to participate in a European-led effort to defend Ukraine as part of the security guarantees sought by Zelenskyy.
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 by Fox News on Tuesday what assurances he could provide beyond his term in office that American troops would not be part of defending Ukraine’s border, Trump said, “Well, you have my assurance and I’m president.”
Trump however would have no control over the US military after his terms ends in January 2029.
Later on Tuesday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt also emphasised that “US boots will not be on the ground” as part of any potential peacekeeping mission.
Leavitt also said in her press briefing that Putin promised Trump he would have a face-to-face meeting with Zelenskyy, but that has not yet been confirmed by the Kremlin.
During talks with Zelenskyy and European leaders on Monday, Trump said that he was pressing for three-way talks among Zelenskyy, 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 Zelenskyy 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.”
Trump said in the same interview that he is optimistic that a deal can be reached to end the Russian invasion, but 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.
Additional sources • AP