US President Donald Trump’s recent talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin and then his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy failed to yield a positive result concerning the Russia-Ukraine war, that has been going on for over 3 years. Zelenskyy met Trump, joined by some European leaders, at the White House on Monday (August 18).

During the meeting, there appeared to be differing views on Russia-Ukraine ceasefire with the European leaders expressing their support while Trump raising questions on its necessity. This came as a stark contrast to his position going into last week’s summit with Putin.

However, all the leaders present at the White House shared a unanimous view on a trilateral meeting between Trump, Zelenskyy, and Putin. Among one of the most notable takeaways from the meeting was Trump’s willingness to provide US security guarantees for Ukraine.

Security guarantees for Ukraine: What did Trump offer?

While the US President has ruled out putting US troops on the ground in Ukraine, he has assured air support in need. “You have my assurance, and I am president. I am just trying to stop people from being killed,” he said during an interview with Fox News on Tuesday.

Trump has, however, said that the United States might provide air support as part of a deal to end Russia’s war in the country.

With this, he noted that European nations are willing to offer troops to enhance Ukraine’s security, but the US could provide support “by air”. “We’re willing to help them with things, especially, probably if you talk about by air, because there’s nobody that has the kind of stuff we have,” Trump stated.

A shift in tone for US-Ukraine relations?

After their White House meeting, US President Trump told the reporters that when it comes to security, there’s going to be a lot of help to Ukraine, adding that European countries would be involved. “They are a first line of defence because they’re there, but we’ll help them out.”

Zelenskiy appreciated the promise as “a major step forward”. He further underscored that the guarantees would be “formalised on paper within the next week to 10 days” and informed that the country has offered to buy about $90 billion worth of US weapons. Signaling a positive shift, Trump and Zelenskyy’s tone on Monday was much warmer than a disastrous meeting in February.

Russia-Ukraine peace deal: Putin-Zelenskyy meeting soon?

According to US President Trump, Putin might not want to make a deal, as he said, “We’re going to find out about President Putin in the next couple of weeks.” Prior to the Monday’s talks, Russia has often said it agreed with the idea of security guarantees for Kyiv and reiterated its position that it “categorically” rejected “any scenarios involving the deployment of NATO troops in Ukraine.”

Trump has said that both Russian and Ukrainian leaders are in the process of setting up a meeting to discuss ending the war in Ukraine. “They are in the process of setting it up,” Trump said in a radio interview on ‘The Mark Levin show’.

It has also emerged that Putin has suggested that a peace talk between him and Zelenskyy be held in Moscow, France24 reported citing sources. However, Zelensky had said “no” to the talks being held in the Russian capital.

News agency Reuters, quoting an EU diplomat, reported that the US President interrupted his talks in Washington with European leaders to call the Russian President.