On August 25, US President Donald Trump said that Europe must take the lead in providing "significant security guarantees" to Ukraine, while emphasizing that Washington's role will be to support, not the key.
According to Mr. Trump's argument, Europe should have played a pioneering role in protecting Ukraine because "they are right there". The US leader also reiterated that this plan will still have Washington but with "support points".
Notably, this is not the first time Trump has clarified Washington's role in resolving the conflict that has lasted for more than 3 years or providing security guarantees for Ukraine.
Previously, on August 19, Mr. Trump said to reporters: "It's always been an ban on it," when asked if there was any possibility for Ukraine's NATO membership.
The US leader added that Ukraine's entry into NATO has not been allowed to happen for a long time, and used the phrase "unfeasible" to describe the ambition of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to reclaim the Crimean peninsula.
At the time, Mr. Trump did not mention the possibility of the US participation in the plan to send troops to Ukraine under the name of "peacekeeping forces" that some European countries are promoting as a solution to ensure security. He only said that he would but it could be not in the strict sense, but did not disclose details.
Despite President Trump's increasingly superficial stance, until August 23, Mr. Zelensky still affirmed that new details about security guarantees for Ukraine will be ready "in the coming days" after meetings of countries supporting Kiev.
At the time, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte stressed that "solid security guarantees would be necessary" and said that Washington, despite its limited role, would still be a part of the process.
Mr. Rutte also called for increased Ukraine's military capabilities and offered binding guarantees from Europe and the US. According to the NATO head, some countries have even proposed sending peacekeeping forces, while Canada has not ruled out contributing troops.
For his part, Russian President Vladimir Putin has agreed that Ukraine's security must be guaranteed, but opposed solutions without Moscow.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov argued that the guarantees "must follow consensus" and condemned proposals related to foreign military intervention.
