White House reaffirms no US troops in Ukraine as part of security guarantee

ISTANBUL

The White House ruled out Tuesday deploying US ground forces in Ukraine while confirming air support remains under consideration as part of security guarantees.

"The president has definitively stated, US boots will not be on the ground in Ukraine, but we can certainly help in the coordination and perhaps provide other means of security guarantees to our European allies," spokesperson Karoline Leavitt told reporters.

She said that US President Donald Trump has directed his national security team to develop an acceptable framework for lasting peace through security guarantees. "The president understands security guarantees are crucially important to ensure a lasting peace," said Leavitt, adding that Trump ordered coordination with European allies and continued discussions with Ukraine and Russia.

Asked about air support as a security guarantee option, Leavitt confirmed that it “was something the president mentioned in his interview this morning. It is an option, and a possibility."

Trump told Fox News that the US may provide air support to support European countries who are "willing to put people on the ground … because there is nobody (that) has the kind of stuff we have."

Diplomatic progress

Leavitt described Trump's meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the US state of Alaska last Friday as "very productive," saying multiple key points were agreed upon that "truly opened up the doors for phase two discussions."

She referred to Trump's meeting Monday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European leaders.

Leavitt confirmed the US is working with Russia and Ukraine to arrange a Putin-Zelenskyy meeting.

"The president has always said that there are areas of disagreement in this war that will have to be discussed and decided upon by these two countries," she said.