Trump's Ukraine defense commitment hinges on belief Russia won't invade again
U.S. President Donald Trump has signalled readiness to commit to future defense of Ukraine, but only because he believes Russia would not invade again, according to his interview with the New York Times published on Jan. 9.
The comments appear to call into question the reliability of U.S. security guarantees that Kyiv and its European allies have been seeking to secure as part of the peace negotiations.
"I feel strongly they (Russia) wouldn't re-invade, or I wouldn't agree to it," Trump told the New York Times when asked about Washington's potential involvement in safeguarding Ukraine against future Russian aggression.
Earlier this week in Paris, the Coalition of the Willing agreed on a "legally binding" security guarantees framework that included a deployment of a European-led multinational force in Ukraine after the war.
The document says that the U.S. would lead ceasefire monitoring and potentially provide support to the multinational force, although the scale of involvement is not clear. U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff acknowledged that progress has been made during the Paris summit, even though the U.S. did not sign the joint statement.
Speaking to The New York Times, Trump emphasized that Washington would play only a secondary role in the guarantees. He also signalled his belief that Russian President Vladimir Putin seeks peace.
Trump's push to end the Russia-Ukraine war has been marked by frequent turnarounds, with the White House often shifting between criticism of Kyiv and Moscow.
The latest negotiations center on a 20-point peace framework, a document drafted during a series of talks among Ukrainian and Western officials in response to an initial, controversial 28-point version that heavily favored Moscow.
President Volodymyr Zelensky recently said that the peace agreement is "90% ready", even though some of the most contentious issues, such as territory, are still unresolved.
Despite Trump's apparent belief that the Kremlin is open to peace, Russia again rejected the post-war presence of European peacekeepers in Ukraine and continues to demand that Kyiv cede the entire Donetsk region — a non-starter for the war-torn country.
