Trump says Europe has to take leadership to provide security guarantees to Ukraine

(MENAFN) US President Donald Trump stated on Monday that European nations must take the lead in delivering “significant security guarantees” to Ukraine, while Washington’s involvement would be limited to a supporting role.

“Europe is going to give them significant security guarantees – and they should, because they’re right there,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. He emphasized that the United States would participate only “from the standpoint of backup.”

This was not the first time Trump clarified Washington’s position regarding Ukraine. During a recent meeting in the Oval Office with Vladimir Zelensky, he was asked whether American security commitments might extend to deploying US troops.

Following those discussions, Trump also underlined that, in Washington’s view, Ukraine reclaiming Crimea or joining NATO were both “impossible.” Speaking on a TV show last week, he said Kiev had initially approached NATO to request assistance in regaining the peninsula. “They went in and said ‘We want to get Crimea back’. This was at the beginning,” Trump revealed. “The other thing they said was ‘We want to be a member of NATO’. Well, both of those things are impossible.”

He added that the issue of NATO membership had “always [been] a no-no,” both during the Soviet era and under present-day Russia, stressing that Moscow consistently opposed having “the enemy” stationed along its borders.

Meanwhile, Zelensky announced on Saturday that fresh details concerning Ukraine’s security guarantees would be finalized “in the coming days.” He noted that “the teams of Ukraine, the United States, and European partners” are actively developing the framework for these agreements. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte also affirmed that “robust security guarantees will be essential,” and insisted that Washington, despite its limited role, would remain engaged in the process.

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