Trump hints at letting Ukraine 'fight back'
US President Donald Trump on Tuesday appeared to shift his stance again, this time on deployment of American troops as part of a potential peace deal to end the war in Ukraine.
Speaking on Fox News Tuesday morning, Trump responded to concerns about American military involvement post-conflict and said the US will not send troops to Ukraine as part of any future peace deal, CNN reported.
“Well, you have my assurance, and I’m president,” Trump said in a phone interview with Fox News when asked what kind of guarantee he could offer that future administrations wouldn’t send American troops to defend Ukraine’s borders. “I am just trying to stop people from being killed.”
A White House official later confirmed that Trump has ruled out any US troop presence in Ukraine.
The US President further said that European allies including France, Germany, and the UK should “front-load” Ukraine’s security by committing troops if necessary. Discussions about security guarantees were at the heart of Monday’s talks at the White House between Trump, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European leaders.
‘You Don’t Take On a Nation That’s Ten Times Your Size’
Meanwhile, Trump, once again, appeared to shift the blame on Ukraine for the war, despite Russia’s 2022 invasion, reportedly saying, “It’s not a war that should have been started. You don’t do that. You don’t take on a nation that is ten times your size.”
Further noting that Russia now controls roughly 79% of the Donbas region, he said, “They understand what that means.”
Trump also revealed that he is working to organise a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Zelenskyy in the coming weeks.
“I sort of set it up with Putin and Zelenskyy… we are 7,000 miles away,” he told Fox News.
If the initial bilateral meeting is successful, Trump says he will join for a trilateral summit to “close it up.”
“I think the fact that maybe they are getting along a little bit better than I thought… otherwise, I wouldn’t have set up the two meeting.”
Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron expressed skepticism over Putin’s intentions, telling NBC News that he doesn’t believe Moscow is serious about ending the war.
ALSO READ: 5 Big Takeaways from Trump’s Meetings with Zelenskyy and European Leaders – As It Happened
Greg Biffle: The former NASCAR driver Greg Biffle died at the age of 55 after…
Kristin Cabot: Kristin Cabot, the former Head of Human Resources at tech firm Astronomer, has…
Shilpa Shetty: Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty Kundra’s legal team has denied reports claiming that the…
