Mr. Trump proposed that Europe deploy forces in Ukraine to monitor a future ceasefire, seemingly wanting to push most of the responsibility to allies.
Preliminary ideas about US President-elect Donald Trump’s efforts to end the Russia-Ukraine conflict began to appear during his visit to Europe last week.
At a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and French President Emmanuel Macron in Parris on December 7, Mr. Trump said he did not support Ukraine’s membership in NATO. However, he wants to see a strong, well-armed Ukraine that can work towards a ceasefire.
American newspaper Wall Street Journal Citing unnamed officials familiar with the matter, Mr. Trump believes Europe should play a major role in protecting and supporting Ukraine, and wants “European soldiers present in the country” to monitor the order. ceasefire in case Kiev and Moscow reach an agreement. The US President-elect did not rule out the possibility that Washington would support the above move, but emphasized that US military personnel would not go to Ukraine.
These are the clearest moves on the idea of ending the nearly 3-year conflict in Ukraine that Mr. Trump has long announced, but has never clearly stated the steps.
His aides have previously shared many proposals to end the conflict, with the main idea being that Kiev must abandon or delay its ambition to join NATO and make territorial concessions, otherwise the US will cut aid. support.
With this idea, Mr. Trump seems to want to kick the entire ball of responsibility for ensuring Ukraine’s security into the court of allies across the Atlantic, despite his commitments to “support as long as needed.” “necessity” that Washington once proposed to Kiev.
From left to right: US President-elect Donald Trump, French President Emmanuel Macron, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Paris on December 7. Image: AP
Discussions on the idea of sending European troops to Ukraine are at a preliminary stage with a number of unanswered questions, including which countries will participate, the number of troops, and the role of the United States in support. European forces and whether Russia will accept an agreement that includes the deployment of NATO troops.
European officials began discussing this idea, when they realized it would be difficult to rely on the United States to ensure Ukraine’s security during Trump’s term. On December 12, a number of European foreign ministers met in Berlin, Germany to discuss security guarantees for Ukraine. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte also invited the leaders of Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Poland and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to meet Mr. Zelensky in Brussels to talk about this issue, according to two close sources. near.
During the interview, Times Previously published by the UK, Mr. Trump stated that he “strongly opposes” Ukraine using missiles provided by the US to attack targets deep within Russian territory, describing this as a “stupid decision”.
He said this move would escalate the conflict, but affirmed that he would use US support for Ukraine as leverage to end the war. “I want to reach an agreement and the only way to achieve that is not to abandon them,” he said.
In a post on the social network Truth Social after the meeting in Paris, Mr. Trump also emphasized “there needs to be an immediate ceasefire and negotiations should begin.”
Any European force appearing in Ukraine would operate in a peacekeeping or ceasefire monitoring role, not on behalf of NATO, according to officials. President Biden’s administration, many European countries and even the incoming Trump administration have all talked about the desire to avoid direct fighting between NATO and Russian troops in Ukraine, out of concern that it could escalate into conflict. global.
However, some observers fear that even if Russia accepts the ceasefire, it will take advantage of it to strengthen its forces and continue its campaign in Ukraine in the future.
There is still much skepticism about the idea of sending troops to Ukraine. European governments may fear the risk of pushing their forces into direct confrontation if Russian troops violate the ceasefire. French officials say the idea requires some support from the US, but it is unclear whether the Trump administration wants to do that or not.
In addition, analysts also question whether European governments will receive domestic political support to deploy troops to Ukraine.
On December 12, Mr. Macron visited Poland to discuss the Ukraine conflict and security guarantees. In a subsequent press conference, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tuck announced that his country plans to send troops into Ukraine and will not be pressured to do so.
Ukrainian soldiers exercise in the Kharkov area on June 5. Image: AFP
Although Mr. Trump declared “not abandoning” Ukraine, many European leaders are still concerned about the risk of the new administration in Washington cutting aid to Kiev. That means the burden of supporting Ukraine will fall entirely on Europe’s shoulders.
Europe’s total aid to Ukraine is more than that of the US, but Washington’s military aid is very important. With Europe’s limited supply of weapons, Ukraine must mainly rely on weapons from the Pentagon to fight Russia.
European diplomats fear their military aid to Ukraine may have to double if Mr. Trump cuts funding from the US. They fear that domestic public opinion will find it difficult to support increased aid to Ukraine and that the conflict will continue to drag on. This could create a major political challenge in European countries as many populist right-wing parties opposing aid to Ukraine are rising across Europe.
Mr. Zelensky has repeatedly said that the only reliable security guarantee for Ukraine is NATO membership, but also accepts that this is not possible before the end of the conflict. In recent weeks, with Mr. Trump urging a quick end to the conflict, Mr. Zelensky began to change his stance, leaving open the possibility of negotiations with Russia, on the condition that Kiev received an invitation to join NATO.
Mr. Zelensky welcomed the proposal to send troops to Ukraine to ensure security. However, he emphasized that Kiev must know clearly “when Ukraine will join the EU and NATO. Only such security guarantees will be truly effective.”