Trump: US Military Troops Won’t be Deployed to Ukraine – Potential for Aerial Assistance Not Ruled Out | Global AffairsNote: The sentence has been restructured for clarity and to use alternative phrasing, while retaining the core meaning.

Where American troops won’t be sent to Ukraine, but the US may provide air support as part of a peace deal with Russia has been said by Donald Trump.

A day following his extraordinary White House meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the leaders of the European allies, the US president informed Fox News “when it comes to security, [Europeans] are willing to put people on the ground. We’re willing to help them with things, especially, probably, by air”.

Ukraine war – follow the latest developments.

Mr. Trump did not elaborate, but White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt informed reporters US air support was “an option and a possibility”.

What she said was that the US president “has definitely stated US boots will not be on the ground in Ukraine, but we can certainly help in the coordination and perhaps provide other means of security guarantees to our European allies”.

Air support could take many forms, including missile defense systems or fighter jets enforcing a no-fly zone – and it’s not clear what role the US would play under any proposed peace deal.

Zelenskyy-Putin summit

This comes as planning for a possible Zelenskyy-Putin summit get under way.

Talks between the Ukrainian and Russian president are seen by Mr. Trump as essential to ending the war.

Sky News understands a meeting could happen before the end of the month, with Geneva, Vienna, Rome, Budapest, and Doha among the venues being considered.

Geneva, Switzerland, is considered the best option, with Rome or the Vatican not favored by the Russians and Budapest not favored by the Ukrainians.

European allies are understood to want security guarantees to be defined before the meeting.

A NATO-like treaty, guaranteeing Ukraine’s allies would come to its defense in the event of any future Russian attack, is being worked on and could be completed by next week.

Like the US, Sky News understands Italy is opposed to putting boots on the ground in Ukraine.

But EU diplomats are confident this is the Best chance yet to stop the war, and allies could return to Washington in early September to celebrate any deal being struck.

Read more on Sky News:
‘Do not trust Russia,’ diplomat warns
Why peace may be further away, not closer
Five key takeaways from White House talks

Trump still has doubts about Putin

Despite the renewed optimism about a peace deal following Monday’s White House summit, Mr. Trump has admitted Vladimir Putin may not be sincere about wanting to end the war.

“We’re going to find out about President Putin in the next couple of weeks,” he told Fox News.

Previously he has threatened to put more sanctions on Russia if a peace deal isn’t reached, although previously set deadlines have been and gone.

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