On August 19, members of the “coalition of the willing” — an informal group of 30 countries backing Kyiv under the leadership of France and the United Kingdom — discussed possible security guarantees for Ukraine.
According to Bloomberg, the meeting of European officials focused on a plan to send British and French troops to the war-affected country. The agency said, citing anonymous sources, that about 10 European states are prepared to deploy their forces to Ukraine.
At the same time, several unnamed European officials told Bloomberg they remain skeptical both about the prospects for a peace agreement and about whether such guarantees would be sufficient to deter Vladimir Putin. The publication noted that the Kremlin rejects the prospect of NATO troops being stationed on Ukrainian territory.
The position of the United States remains unclear. A day earlier, Donald Trump said on Fox News that there would be no American troops in Ukraine while he remains president. He added that France, the United Kingdom and Germany want to station their troops on Ukrainian soil.
“I don’t think that will be a problem,” Trump said.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt added that Washington “could certainly help with coordination” and might provide other forms of security support. At the same time, Trump told Volodymyr Zelensky and European leaders during their meeting on Monday that he would discuss Ukraine’s protection, including a mechanism similar to Article 5 of the NATO Charter, but gave no details.
At the same time, the US president also said directly that such guarantees should not be provided within the NATO framework.