Donald Trump says US could play role ‘by air’ in Ukraine security guarantee

{"text":[[{"start":35.19,"text":"Donald Trump has said the US could play a role “by air” in a postwar security guarantee for Ukraine, as he warned Vladimir Putin that he would face a “rough situation” if he did not co-operate on a peace deal."}],[{"start":49.769999999999996,"text":"Speaking the morning after White House meetings with Ukraine’s president and European leaders, Trump told Fox News that American forces could assist Kyiv’s allies in deterring future Russian attacks."}],[{"start":63.669999999999995,"text":"“When it comes to security, [the Europeans are] willing to put people on the ground,” Trump said."}],[{"start":70.02,"text":"“We’re willing to help them with things, especially, probably talk about by air, because there’s nobody [who has the] kind of stuff we have,” he added. “I don’t think it’s going to be a problem.”"}],[{"start":81.61999999999999,"text":"It was unclear whether Trump was referring to the use of fighter jets or capabilities such as airborne intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance."}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":91.6,"text":"Later on Tuesday, Trump’s press secretary Karoline Leavitt explicitly ruled out the deployment of US forces on Ukrainian soil, but reiterated the government would help with any security arrangements."}],[{"start":105.63,"text":"“The president has definitively stated US boots will not be on the ground in Ukraine,” Leavitt said. “But we can certainly help in the co-ordination and perhaps provide other means of security guarantees to our European allies.”"}],[{"start":120.57,"text":"She added Trump had “directed his national security team to co-ordinate with our friends in Europe, and also to continue to co-operate and discuss these matters with Ukraine and Russia as well”."}],[{"start":134.47,"text":"On Monday, the US president had said “European nations are going to take a lot of the burden” of securing Ukraine, adding: “We’re going to help them.”"}],[{"start":144.81,"text":"The question of security guarantees is one of several that remain unresolved after the high-profile White House summit and a meeting between Trump and Putin, the Russian president, in Alaska last week."}],[{"start":158.6,"text":"“[Ukraine] is not going to be a part of Nato, but we’ve got the European nations, and they’ll frontload it,” Trump said, mentioning France, Germany and the UK."}],[{"start":170.64,"text":"Russia has consistently said it will not accept any western troop presence in Ukraine, and repeated that stance on Monday."}],[{"start":178.79,"text":"Trump also said on Tuesday that the US was setting up a bilateral meeting between Putin and Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to discuss ending the conflict, though the Kremlin has yet to agree publicly to any such summit."}],[{"start":194.78,"text":"“I think Putin is tired of it. I think they’re all tired of it,” he added. “But you never know. We’re going to find out about president Putin in the next couple of weeks. It’s possible he does not want to make a deal.”"}],[{"start":208.78,"text":"Trump added that after an initial Putin-Zelenskyy meeting, he was prepared to attend a trilateral meeting with both leaders to conclude an agreement."}],[{"start":218.76,"text":"“I hope that president Putin will be good, and if he is not, it is going to be a rough situation and I hope president Zelenskyy is going to show flexibility as well.”"}],[{"start":230.91,"text":"On Tuesday, Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov avoided a question on whether Putin had agreed to meet Zelenskyy, saying any top-level meeting with Ukraine had to be “prepared extremely carefully”."}],[{"start":245.75,"text":"Lavrov told state television Russia “is not rejecting any forms of work, neither bilateral nor trilateral” but insisted that summits required “step-by-step gradual preparation, starting with the expert level and thereafter going through all the required steps”."}],[{"start":263.49,"text":"European leaders, who have been coaching the Ukrainian president on handling Trump since a disastrous meeting in the Oval Office in February, are keen that if the meeting does not happen, the blame — in Trump’s eyes — falls solely on Putin."}],[{"start":279.69,"text":"The European Commission said it welcomed “that president Putin has changed his mind on bilateral talks with president Zelenskyy” and that governments on the continent would help to prepare the summit."}],[{"start":292.62,"text":"UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said on X that there would “now be a bilateral meeting between president Putin and president Zelenskyy” followed by a trilateral meeting including Trump."}],[{"start":306.91,"text":"But some officials have doubts Putin will follow through on meeting Zelenskyy soon."}],[{"start":312.29,"text":"Zelenskyy said on Monday after leaving the Oval Office that he was open to “any format” of meeting Putin, a statement that puts the onus on the Russian president."}],[{"start":323.03000000000003,"text":"He posted on Tuesday that governments were “already working on the concrete content of the security guarantees” and that national security advisers were in “constant contact”."}],[{"start":334.71000000000004,"text":"A further meeting of the group of leaders, including those from Germany, France, Italy and Finland, who were present at the White House would take place once the details of the security guarantees had been fleshed out, officials said."}],[{"start":349.05,"text":"Despite the European leaders’ push for the guarantees, Trump said there would be no American “boots on the ground”."}],[{"start":356.55,"text":"Another sticking point in the peace negotiations is Russia’s demand that Ukraine cede territory in the eastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk in exchange for freezing the front line in southern Kherson and Zaporizhzhia. However, Kyiv has insisted it will not surrender any territory."}],[{"start":377.68,"text":"At the White House on Monday, Zelenskyy and the Europeans likened giving away the remainder of the Donetsk region to Trump giving away eastern Florida, according to two people familiar with the matter. They added that the US president was struck by the analogy."}],[{"start":395.03000000000003,"text":"Additional reporting by Christopher Miller"}],[{"start":408.12000000000006,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftmailbox.cn/album/a_1755644897_3677.mp3"}