Military chiefs from the United States and a number of European countries have completed military options on Ukraine and will now present them to their respective national security advisers, the U.S. military said on Thursday.
U.S. and European military planners have begun exploring post-conflict security guarantees for Ukraine, following President Donald Trump’s pledge to help protect the country under any deal to end Russia’s war in Ukraine.
“These options will be presented to each nation’s respective national security advisers for appropriate consideration in ongoing diplomatic efforts,” a U.S. military statement said.
The meetings between the chiefs of defense for the United States, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, United Kingdom and Ukraine took place in Washington, D.C., between Tuesday and Thursday.
French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer have both spoken in favour of troop deployments in a post-war settlement as part of a coalition of the willing, with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz also signaling openness to his country’s participation.
The head of Germany’s soldiers’ union said on Thursday that European NATO leaders must not be naive when discussing a Ukraine peace force but face up to the reality that they would need to deploy tens of thousands of troops to the country for the long term.
Source:Reuters/Ejiofor Ezeifeoma