• The wave of diplomacy sees European leaders descend in the White House
• ‘Coalition of the provisions’ discuss ways of pressing Putin to end the invasion
• Geneva offers conversations, Grant Putin’s immunity from CPI guarantees
Washington: President Donald Trump ruled out on Tuesday the sending of troops, but imagined extending US air power when Western nations began to make security guarantees for Ukraine before any possible summit with Russia.
Trump, in a wave of diplomacy aimed at ending the war, took the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday and the main European leaders to the White House, three days after his historic encounter with the Vladimir Putin de Russia in Alaska.
Trump said President Putin, whom he called in the middle of Monday’s conversations, had agreed to meet with Zelensky and accept some form of Western security guarantees for Ukraine against Russia, promises were found with extreme caution by kyiv and European leaders.
According to three sources familiar with Trump’s call, Putin proposed to celebrate the summit with Zelensky in Moscow. A source said Zelensky immediately said not to the Russian capital.
Trump, for a long time, a fierce critic of the billions of dollars in the support of the United States to Ukraine since Russia invaded in 2022, said that European nations would take the leadership by sending troops to ensure any agreement, an idea that France and Great Britain have reflected.
“When it comes to security, they are willing to put people on the ground,” Trump said in an interview with Fox News.
“We are willing to help them with things, especially, probably, if you talk by air, because nobody has the kind of things we have. They don’t do it,” Trump said.
He added his “security” that no American land troop would be deployed in Ukraine, and again categorically ruled out Ukraine by joining the NATO of the Western Military Alliance.
Trump has put Putin’s side in describing kyiv’s NATO aspirations as a cause of the war, in which tens of thousands of people have died.
The European leaders, the predecessor of Ukraine and Trump, Joe Biden, described the issue as a pretext and pointed out the Putin statements that reject the historical legitimacy of Ukraine.
Allies discuss the next steps
After Trump’s conversations, French president Emmanuel Macron and British prime minister Keir Starmer gathered around 30 of Ukraine allies known as ‘Coalition of the provisions’ for virtual consultations.
Starmer told them that coalition teams and US officials would meet in the next few days to discuss security guarantees and “prepare for the deployment of a force of tranquility if hostilities ended up,” said a Downing Street spokesman.
“The leaders also discussed how greater pressure, even through sanctions, could be imposed on Putin until he showed that he was ready to take serious measures to end their illegal invasion.”
Macron, speaking with journalists before leaving Washington, also asked for additional sanctions if Putin does not show a will to peace.
The Military Chief of Great Britain, Admiral Tony Radakin, will travel to Washington on Tuesday for conversations about guarantees.
Military personnel chiefs from all 32 NATO member countries will also meet by video on Wednesday to discuss Ukraine, authorities said.
Geneva offers to house
Russia has warned that any solution must also protect its own interests. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told the state television channel Rossiya 24 That any agreement must guarantee the rights of “Russian -speaking people live in Ukraine”, another issue cited by Moscow for the offensive launched in February 2022.
Moscow would surely be seen as a provocative place for a summit, with suggestions that would be equivalent to a Ukraine surrender.
Macron told the French news channel LCI that he wanted the summit to take place in Geneva, a historical place for peace conversations.
The Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis said that the Government would be ready to offer immunity to Putin, who faces an arrest warrant of the International Criminal Court related to the abuses in the war.
Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz have said that the summit could take place in two weeks.
Trump is also looking for a three -way summit that involves it, while Macron has asked for a four -way meeting to involve Europeans who will be vital for Ukraine security.
Posted in Dawn, August 20, 2025
