Donald Trump emphasized that security guarantees for Ukraine, in the event of a cessation of hostilities, will primarily be Europe’s responsibility, although the United States will also be involved to some extent.
The U.S. President said this to journalists at the White House, a Ukrinform correspondent reports.
“Europe is going to give them (Ukraine – ed.) significant security guarantees, and they (Europeans – ed.) should, because they are right there. But we will be involved from the standpoint of a backup,” Trump explained. “We will help them. And I think, if we reach an agreement – and I believe we will – then there will be almost no problems.”
President Trump again expressed his desire to end the war: “I want to stop seeing people being killed.” At the same time, he repeated his criticism of the previous administration for allegedly allocating $350 billion to Ukraine, calling President Zelensky “the best salesman” – even though Trump himself had earlier denied that figure.
The U.S. President said his administration had radically changed its approach:
“We do not pay any money to Ukraine any more. In fact, it’s the opposite – they request through NATO. NATO requests missiles, or Patriots, we give the missiles to NATO, and NATO pays us in full.”
According to Trump, his efforts raised allies’ defense contributions within NATO from 2% to 5% of GDP, which allows for the accumulation of “trillions of dollars” that can be used to support Ukraine.
“I don’t want to make money on Ukraine. I want the war to end because I want to save all those lives,” Trump added.
As Ukrinform reported, Ukrainian Defense Minister Denys Shmyhal and U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Ukraine, General Keith Kellogg, discussed creating reliable security guarantees to prevent future aggression against Ukraine.
Photo: Office of the President of Ukraine
Source: Europe to provide security guarantees to Ukraine, but U.S. to be involved, Trump says
