European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has told the Financial Times that European countries are drawing up “pretty precise plans” for the potential deployment of troops to Ukraine as part of a future peace deal, an arrangement Russia has made clear it would never accept.
Despite Moscow’s repeated objections to the deployment of troops from NATO countries to Ukraine, European leaders continue to push the idea and say they have the support of President Trump. Von der Leyen said European capitals were working on “a multinational troop [deployment] and the backstop of the Americans.”
“President Trump reassured us that there will be [an] American presence as part of the backstop,” she said. “That was very clear and repeatedly affirmed.”
Trump has said that he wouldn’t send US troops to Ukraine, but has suggested he could back European troops on the ground with air power. “We’re willing to help them with things, especially, probably, if you talk about by air, because no one has the kind of stuff we have, really, they don’t,” the president said after hosting European leaders at the White House nearly two weeks ago.
The insistence on sending European troops to Ukraine could ultimately undermine the peace process. Russia has said that it must be involved in any talks about future security guarantees for Ukraine, but Ukraine’s Western backers continue to discuss the plans among themselves and with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Axios reported on Saturday that White House officials believe the US’s European allies are attempting to undermine the chances for a peace deal in Ukraine by pushing Zelensky to hold out for unrealistic territorial concessions from Russia. The report did not mention the discussions about security guarantees for Ukraine.
“The Europeans don’t get to prolong this war and backdoor unreasonable expectations, while also expecting America to bear the cost,” a top White House official told Axios. “If Europe wants to escalate this war, that will be up to them. But they will be hopelessly snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.”
