North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, NATO, military leaders are expected to meet at noon today to discuss Ukraine, following a meeting at the White House Monday between President Donald Trump and several key European leaders, including NATO Secretary General, Mark Rutte.
This is even as Trump said that U.S. troops won’t be involved in any peacekeeping effort in Ukraine after the war, a day after he assured that US would be fully involved in security guarantee for Ukraine, though he said that Europe would be at the front line of defense, reports AFP.
The meeting to be hosted by NATO’s Military Committee and announced on X by chairman of the NATO’s Military Committee, Adm. Giuseppe Cavo Dragone, would be briefed by Supreme Allied Commander Europe US, Gen. Alex Grynkewich, CNN quoted a senior NATO official as saying.
“As diplomatic efforts to secure peace in Ukraine progress, looking forward to his [Grynkewich’s] update on the current security environment,” Dragone said.
Future security guarantees for Ukraine were among key topics discussed Monday at the White House. French President Emmanuel Macron told reporters that the “first and most important” outcome of the talks was the US’ commitment to help develop security plans.
Trump said Monday that while Europe would take the lead on security for Ukraine, the US is “going to help them out also.We’ll be involved,” Trump said.
But yesterday, he ruled out sending American troops to Ukraine, despite expressing an openness to the idea Monday.
Today’s meeting will also come less than a week after a summit between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska, at the end of which Trump declared no deal struck on a ceasefire.
Meanwhile, the European Commission Vice President, Kaja Kallas, said the European Union would help train Ukrainian soldiers and slap new sanctions on Russia after a virtual meeting of the “Coalition of the Willing” yesterday.
“Putin cannot be trusted to honour any promise or commitment,” Kallas wrote in a post on X.
“Therefore, security guarantees must be strong and credible enough to deter Russia from re-grouping and re-attacking.”
Among those security guarantees, Kallas continued, will be EU training for “Ukrainian soldiers and strengthening Ukraine’s armed forces and defence industry.”
“The EU will also continue targeting Russia’s war economy. The next sanctions package against Moscow should be ready by next month,” he added.
Earlier yesterday, a spokesperson for the British prime minister’s office said in a statement that the coalition had discussed how sanctions “could be placed on Putin until he showed he was ready to take serious action to end his illegal invasion.”
