European leaders have been urging that the United States must backstop any Ukraine peace deal to prevent the country from ever being attacked by Russia again. Of course, this means a military backstop; however, all signs point to Trump wanting to reduce the American troop presence in Europe, in favor of the Europeans doing more to provide for their own security.
Some European officials have already attacked this policy as the US signing off on Ukraine's "surrender" to Moscow. For example, days ago Finnish MEP member Mika Aaltola of the European People's Party claimed that the Trump administration "has given us three weeks to agree on terms for Ukraine's surrender." Aaltola added: "If we don't, the United States will withdraw from Europe."
These words also came around the time of an NBC News report which cited US officials who said Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth privately informed Ukrainian officials that Washington may significantly reduce its troop presence in Europe.
This as President Zelensky has been urging against this, recently asserting that over 100,000 European troops could be needed in Ukraine to prevent another future war. He's described that this would be necessary in the scenario that Ukraine doesn't get a path to NATO membership.
Weekend reports indicate that Europe is readying a proposed plan to send at least 30,000 of its troops to Ukraine in a peacekeeping capacity in the wake of any truce deal. The report says this would be "with the US providing technical, logistics, and weapons support" - but crucially no American boots on the ground, as Trump has repeatedly promised. Meanwhile:
TRUMP: US BACKING OF SOME KIND FOR EUROPEAN TROOPS IN UKRAINE
The NY Times reports Monday of a European scramble to fill the US void as Trump signals draw back from Europe:
European leaders are racing to try to figure out how to fill a potential void — in Ukraine and in continental security as a whole — as President Trump’s White House talks of dialing back American support and troop numbers in Europe.
...At the same time, European foreign ministers will be meeting in Brussels, where they are expected to debate how much to send to Kyiv in their next support package.
That plan could end up totaling more than 20 billion euros, according to two people familiar with the discussions who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.
Currently France and the UK under Starmer are leading the way in advancing such plans to send European troops to Ukraine.
NBC has more details on what this might look like practically in the following:
But Western officials say what’s being discussed is a “reassurance force,” not an army of peacekeepers posted along the 600-mile (1,000-kilometer) front line in Ukraine's east.
The proposal supported by the United Kingdom and France would see fewer than 30,000 European troops on the ground in Ukraine — away from the front line at key infrastructure sites such as nuclear power plants — backed by Western air and sea power.
Under the plan, the front line would largely be monitored remotely, with drones and other technology. Air power based outside Ukraine — perhaps in Poland or Romania — would be in reserve to deter breaches and reopen Ukrainian airspace to commercial flights.
The report adds, "That could include American air power." But European planners are dreaming if they think Moscow would actually go for this.
Some have suggested this is all about sabotaging efforts at quick negotiated peace...
From the start of the Kremlin contemplating negotiations, President Putin has made clear that Russia will not tolerate Western armies on the ground in Ukraine. Moscow has rejected as a non-starter any plans which put NATO forces along its border. This is especially given Russia is in the driver's seat regarding the war in Donbass, and will be able to dictate terms... at least much more so than the West.