Top military officers hold Ukraine talks after Trump rules out sending US troops

WASHINGTON - Top US and European military officers met in Washington on Aug 19 to discuss the mechanics of a possible Ukraine peace deal, after US President Donald Trump ruled out sending American troops to back an agreement but suggested air support instead.

In a flurry of diplomacy aimed at ending the war, Mr Trump brought Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and European leaders to the White House on Aug 18, three days after

his landmark encounter

with Russia’s Vladimir Putin in Alaska.

But while Mr Trump said Mr Putin had agreed to meet Mr Zelensky and accept some Western security guarantees for Ukraine, those promises have been met with extreme caution by Kyiv and Western capitals, and many details remain vague.

Mr Putin

proposed holding the summit

with Mr Zelensky in Moscow, three sources familiar with Mr Trump’s phone call to the Russian leader on Aug 18 told AFP. One source said that Mr Zelensky immediately said no to a meeting in the capital of his country’s invader.

The US President, nevertheless, said he remained “optimistic” about the process after having met separately with Mr Putin and Mr Zelensky.

“Now I thought it would be better if they met without me, just to see,” Mr Trump told conservative host Mark Levin on his syndicated radio show on Aug 19. “We’ll see how they do.”

As Western leaders push for an agreement, US General Dan Caine held talks on the evening of Aug 19 with European military chiefs to discuss “best options for a potential Ukraine peace deal”, a US defence official told AFP.

The in-person talks precede a virtual meeting of military chiefs from Nato’s 32 member countries on Aug 20 in which General Caine is also scheduled to participate.

Mr Trump, long a fierce critic of the billions of dollars in US support to Ukraine since Russia invaded in 2022, said that European nations were “willing to put people on the ground” to secure any settlement.

“France and Germany, a couple of them, the UK, they want to have boots on the ground,” Mr Trump said in a Fox News interview.

“We’re willing to help them with things, especially, probably, if you talk about by air.”

Asked what assurances Mr Trump had that US boots would not be on the ground, he replied: “Well, you have my assurance and I’m president.”

Allies discuss next steps

The White House later doubled down on Mr Trump’s statements but gave few new details on either the summit or the security guarantees.

Press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that Mr Trump “has definitively stated US boots will not be on the ground in Ukraine” and that the use of American air power was an “option and a possibility”.

Ms Leavitt insisted that Mr Putin had promised Mr Trump he would meet Mr Zelensky, and said top US officials were “coordinating” with Russia on a summit.

Mr Trump had dramatically interrupted

his meeting with Mr Zelensky and the Europeans

at the White House on Aug 18 to call the Russian leader.

Pressed by Mr Levin about Mr Trump’s method for such crunch negotiations, the President said: “It’s probably instinct more than process.”

Allies have expressed doubts that Mr Putin will go through with the meeting.

The Europeans are, however, seizing on the possibility of a peace deal following the Trump talks.

French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer brought together around 30 of Ukraine’s allies, known as the “Coalition of the Willing”, for virtual consultations.

Mr Starmer told them coalition teams and US officials would meet in the coming days to “prepare for the deployment of a reassurance force if the hostilities ended”, a Downing Street spokesperson said.

Geneva, Budapest floated for summits

Russia has warned that any solution must also protect its own “security interests” and has ruled out Ukraine joining Nato.

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov added that any meeting between the leaders “must be prepared very thoroughly”.

Mr Lavrov’s comments and Mr Putin’s offer of Moscow as a summit venue reinforced European fears that Russia was once again stalling.

Mr Macron said he favoured Geneva, a historic venue for peace talks. 

Switzerland said it was

ready to offer immunity

to Mr Putin, who faces

an arrest warrant

from the International Criminal Court over the war.

Another potential site for a follow-up three-way summit including Mr Trump is Budapest.

“Could be,” US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Fox News when asked whether Hungary’s capital could be the location. “We’ve got to get through the (meeting between Putin and Zelensky) first.”

On the streets of Kyiv, there was scepticism about whether the latest talks could end the grinding conflict.

“The main problem is Putin himself doesn’t want it,” said warehouse worker Anton, 32.

“They can meet as many times as they want, but Putin doesn’t need it and Donald Trump doesn’t really know what to do.”

But in Moscow, some people were more optimistic.

“I hope we can agree on mutually beneficial terms,” said government employee Vyacheslav, 23. AFP