News Feed

Trump tells Macron, Zelensky he wants European troops monitoring Ukraine ceasefire, WSJ reports

2 min read
Trump tells Macron, Zelensky he wants European troops monitoring Ukraine ceasefire, WSJ reports
U.S. President Donald Trump leaves after a meeting with European Union officials on the sidelines of a NATO summit in Brussels, Belgium, on May 24, 2027. (Thierry Charlier/AFP via Getty Images)

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump wants European troops to monitor a potential ceasefire in Ukraine, the Wall Street Journal reported on Dec. 12, citing undisclosed official sources.

Trump reportedly made the comments during his Dec. 7 meeting with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky and French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris, making it clear he wants to see Europe take up the leadership in deterring Russian aggression.

Trump, who has pledged to end the war within "24 hours" and reduce U.S. involvement in Ukraine, is reportedly drafting proposals with his transition team, though key decisions will be finalized after his national security team is in place.

The idea of deploying European peacekeepers was reportedly discussed by British and French officials, and Macron was said to have presented the idea to Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk in Warsaw on Dec. 12. Tusk later dismissed the notion during a press conference, saying that no such proposal is on the table for Poland.

During the Paris meeting, Trump reportedly reiterated his opposition to Ukraine joining NATO but emphasized his desire for Ukraine to remain strong and well-armed after the war. Kyiv continues to insist on an invitation to the alliance.

Trump also urged European leaders to pressure China into influencing Russia to end the conflict, suggesting tariffs on Chinese goods as a potential lever.

Earlier reports from the Wall Street Journal on Nov. 6 indicated that Trump’s team is considering a plan to delay Ukraine’s NATO membership by at least 20 years in exchange for continued Western arms supplies.

Speaking to Time magazine, Trump indicated he does not plan to "abandon" Ukraine but instead use U.S. support as leverage to pressure Moscow to the negotiating table. At the same time, he criticized the Biden administration for allowing long-range strikes inside Russia.

Ukrainian military instructors to undergo NATO-standard training in Lithuania
Ukrainian military instructors will receive training in Lithuania in 2025 as part of NATO’s Defense Education Enhancement Program (DEEP), the Ministry of Defense reported on Dec. 12.
Article image
Avatar
Tim Zadorozhnyy

News Editor

Tim Zadorozhnyy is a news editor at The Kyiv Independent. Based in Warsaw, he is pursuing studies in International Relations, focusing on European Studies. Tim began his career at a local television channel in Odesa. After moving to Warsaw, he joined the Belarusian opposition media outlet NEXTA, starting as a news anchor and later advancing to the position of managing editor.

Read more
News Feed

U.S. President Donald Trump's remarks come after the Financial Times (FT) reported, citing undisclosed sources, that he asked President Volodymyr Zelensky whether Kyiv could strike Moscow or St Petersburg if provided with long-range U.S. weapons.

"The stolen data includes confidential questionnaires of the company's employees, and most importantly, full technical documentation on the production of drones, which was handed over to the relevant specialists of the Ukrainian Defense Forces," a source in Ukraine's military intelligence told the Kyiv Independent.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban called upon the EU to take action against Ukraine's conscription practices in an interview with Origo published on July 15, amid an ongoing dispute with Kyiv over the death of a Ukrainian conscript of Hungarian ethnicity.

Show More