Europeans push Trump to play a part in guarantees for Ukraine - Bloomberg
Kyiv • UNN
European officials are trying to get the Trump administration to guarantee U.S. involvement in Ukraine's security. Allies agree that U.S. troops are necessary for the credibility of the peacekeeping force.
European officials are seeking commitments from the new administration of US President Donald Trump to participate in security guarantees for Ukraine, as diplomatic pressure to stop the Russian invasion intensifies, Bloomberg reports, UNN writes.
Details
Allies generally agree with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that the United States would have to contribute troops to any future peacekeeping force in the country to make such an effort credible, according to people familiar with the matter.
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Kyiv's European allies have said that the United States could support this idea, despite Trump's initial reticence. At the same time, they emphasized that it is too early to talk in detail about what the future peacekeeping force in Ukraine will look like.
The latest push shows that Europeans are trying to shape the thinking of the new administration as Trump prepares to engage with Russian dictator Vladimir Putin. The US president has threatened to increase pressure on the Russian economy if Putin does not agree to end hostilities, although the Russian leader has not shown that he is ready to make any significant concessions, the newspaper writes.
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If European allies were forced to send troops on their own, it could undermine confidence in the guarantee and create a split in NATO, as it would mean the effective end of transatlantic cooperation in the Alliance, a senior European government official said.
Trump's skepticism about supporting Ukraine may have softened. According to a senior Western diplomat who has spoken with the president's team on the issue, his team has demonstrated a willingness for the United States to focus on providing security guarantees to Ukraine that they privately recognize as inevitable.
However, in exchange for these commitments, Trump may expect Europe to bear a greater share of the burden of implementing any potential agreement. According to the same diplomat, the Europeans understand that the US expects them to provide the bulk of the troops, and Trump considers the war in Ukraine a European affair.
The president's team has also made it clear that the new US administration does not intend to directly engage in rebuilding Ukraine, something they have suggested will be taken over by the private sector, another senior diplomat said, stressing that discussions are still ongoing.
Meanwhile, in recent weeks, Ukraine's European allies have reportedly become cautiously optimistic that Trump will not force Kyiv to start premature peace talks with Russia.
"Trump's special envoy for Ukraine and Russia, Keith Kellogg, is expected to visit Kyiv in the coming weeks," the newspaper writes. He said he would like a solution to be found within the first 100 days of the administration, after Trump reneged on his promise to reach an agreement to end the conflict in 24 hours.
"But with Trump changing policy on the fly, much remains uncertain. This has left European allies worried about the extent of any future U.S. military commitment to uphold these guarantees - and whether there will be any at all," the publication says.
Several European leaders, including French President Emmanuel Macron, have reportedly considered the idea of sending European troops to support Ukraine after a ceasefire is reached. The Europeans are in discussions to offer concrete solutions to the United States, according to a person familiar with the matter.
However, one senior French official expressed some skepticism. According to this person, the Europeans have realized that they cannot count on significant U.S. involvement, but should prepare for Washington to play a role only in certain capacities, without sending people on the ground.
This can complicate matters, the publication notes.
"To avoid a renewal of war, we need sufficiently credible guarantees," said Patrick Turner, NATO's senior representative to Ukraine. "NATO membership is the measure of what an effective guarantee would look like," he told Bloomberg News in an interview in Kyiv.
