President Donald Trump told Fox and Friends the United States may give Ukraine air support as part of the peace deal with Russia.
Trump met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Oval Office on Monday to discuss a possible peace deal between Ukraine and Russia. During the meeting, the president didn’t rule out American troops on the ground in Ukraine but on Tuesday, Trump suggested the U.S. would help by air. (RELATED: White House Reportedly Asks If Zelenskyy Would Wear A Suit For Meeting)
“What did [the world leaders] say to you privately? It looks like they are on the same page as you are,” Fox and Friends host Lawrence Jones asked Trump.
“They are, they’re very good people, they are very good leaders of their country and they want to lead their country. They are consumed with this far more than we are because they are right there. We have an ocean separating us, a thing called an ocean. A big, beautiful ocean. They don’t. They are right there,” Trump began.
“It’s a different kind of a thing for them…when it comes to security, they are willing to put people on the ground, we’re willing to help them with things, especially, probably if you talk about by air because nobody has stuff we have, really they don’t have,” the president said.
Trump also appeared to clarify his position on American boots on the ground in Ukraine, after refusing to rule out such a scenario Monday. He gave his “assurances” that it wouldn’t be American soldiers protecting Ukraine’s border.
Zelenskyy was joined by many European leaders at the White House Monday, who met with Trump to discuss terms for a peace settlement in the war. Prior to the meeting, Trump indicated Zelenskyy should give up on Ukrainian membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and retaking the Crimean Peninsula.
Trump posted on Truth Social Monday that he had concluded his meeting with Zelenskyy and the other world leaders. They discussed security guarantees, which Trump said “would be provided by the various European Countries, with a coordination with the United States of America.” At the conclusion of the meeting, the president said he called Russian President Vladimir Putin to begin to arrange a meeting between him and Zelenskyy.
“During the meeting we discussed Security Guarantees for Ukraine, which Guarantees would be provided by the various European Countries, with a coordination with the United States of America. Everyone is very happy about the possibility of PEACE for Russia/Ukraine,” Trump wrote in his Truth Social post.
