The President of the United States, Donald Trump, offered assurances on Tuesday that no American soldiers would be sent to defend Ukraine against Russia, after appearing to leave this possibility open the day before.
Trump also stated in a morning TV interview that Ukraine's aspirations to join NATO and regain the Crimea peninsula from Russia are "impossible."
Donald Trump, Volodymyr Zelenski, and the main European leaders held a meeting last Monday at the White House with the aim of ending the war between Russia and Ukraine. When answering questions from journalists, Trump did not rule out sending American soldiers to participate in a European-led effort to defend Ukraine as part of the security guarantees sought by Zelenski.
This Tuesday afternoon, the White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, specified that "there will be no American boots on the ground" as part of any potential peacekeeping mission.
Putin, as part of any possible agreement to withdraw his forces from Ukraine, seeks the withdrawal of Ukrainian soldiers from the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, as well as the recognition of Crimea as Russian territory.
On Monday, Trump also highlighted that he was organizing direct negotiations between Putin and Zelenski to later advance to a trilateral meeting, although sources from Putin's government have not confirmed this yet.
"It was an idea that evolved during the president's conversations with President Putin, President Zelenski, and European leaders yesterday," explained Leavitt.