(Update with new White House statements)
Washington, Aug. 19 (EFE) .- The president of the USA, Donald Trump, said he does not contemplate sending US troops to Ukraine as part of the security guarantees of a future peace agreement with Russia; He agreed that European nations take leadership in that regard.
Asked in Fox News about how there could be no “US troops on the ground” in Ukraine, Trump replied: “They have my guarantee.”
“I am only trying to prevent people from being killed,” insisted the president, who dialogued with his Russian counterpart in Alaska (USA) before receiving yesterday the Ukrainian President, Volodimir Zelenski, and other European leaders in the White House.
Trump reiterated that “there will be some kind of security” for kyiv, “although not within NATO”, and said he agreed with the presence of European military forces in that nation at war.
“They (the Ukrainians) will not be part of NATO, but we have the European nations, and they will be in front. And some of them, France and Germany, also the United Kingdom want to have, you know, troops on the ground. I do not think it will be a problem, to be honest. I think Putin is tired of this. I think everyone is tired of this,” he said.
Shortly after, the White House spokeswoman, Karoline Leavitt, clarified that although Trump has said “categorically” that he will not send troops to Ukraine, “no doubt USA can help in coordination and perhaps provide other security guarantees to our European allies.”
“President Trump understands that security guarantees are crucial to ensure lasting peace, and has ordered his national security team to coordinate with our allies in Europe, as well as continuing to cooperating and discussing these issues with Ukraine and Russia,” Leavitt said.
In his interview with Fox News, Trump said he was surprised by how Putin and Zelenski get “a little better than he thought”, something that led him to first organize a bilateral meeting between the two leaders instead of just a tripartite peace summit.
“They are getting a little better than I thought; otherwise, I would not have organized the meeting of two. I would have organized the three, the trilateral. But I think it is going a little better. (…) I would not say that they will ever be the best friends, but they are doing well,” he said.
The American added that there is a “warmth” in his relationship with Putin. Both leaders greeted themselves with an affectionate handshake before their conversation in Anchorage (Alaska) and showed affinity during their appearance before the press.
The president also said he did not call his Russian colleague while the European representatives were in the White House so as not to be “disrespectful” with Putin.
“I think they (European leaders) expected not to do it in front of them. I thought that would be a disrespect for President Putin. I know, I would not do that because they have not had the most cordial relations. And, in fact, President Putin did not want to talk to the people of Europe. That is, that was part of the problem,” he warned.
Trump said that the call with the Russian president marched well and that he was receptive to the idea of an appointment with Zelenski.
“It was like one in the morning. But he answered very happy; of course, he works very hard, like all of us, and we had a very good call. I told him that we are going to organize a meeting with President Zelenski, and that both will meet, and then, after that meeting, if everything goes well, I will join and close the matter,” he said.
For its part, the Kremlin reduced the expectations of an immediate date and said that such an appointment must “prepare carefully”, although he indicated that “he does not reject any work format, or bilateral, or trilateral.” EFE
