Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Tuesday that he’s held talks with President Trump on the possibility of the US deploying troops to Ukraine.
The Ukrainian leader made the comment when asked if the US plans to deploy troops as part of a security guarantee for a potential future peace deal with Russia. “To be honest, this can only be confirmed by the President of the United States of America. These are US troops, and therefore, it is America that makes such decisions,” Zelensky said, according to Ukrinform.
“Of course, we are discussing this both with President Trump and with representatives of the Coalition [of the Willing],” he added, referring to a group of European countries led by the UK and France that are pushing for a deployment of NATO troops to Ukraine as part of a peace deal, an idea Russia has repeatedly rejected.
Zelensky also said that he would like to see US troops deployed to Ukrainian territory as part of the security guarantee. Also on Tuesday, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk claimed that the US has already agreed to deploy troops to Ukraine as part of its security guarantees.
US officials have said the US has offered NATO “Article 5-style” security guarantees to Ukraine, but have not said that the US is willing to send troops. According to Zelensky, the US has agreed to provide a 15-year security guarantee.
Either a NATO-style security guarantee or a NATO troop deployment would almost certainly be rejected by Moscow, and the fact that the ideas are on the table makes a peace deal extremely unlikely. After holding talks with Zelensky in Florida on Sunday, President Trump said the issue of “land” is also not settled as Ukraine is refusing to cede the territory it still controls in the Donbas, a key Russian demand.
