Trump says US would help with Ukraine’s security in peace deal

WASHINGTON – US President Donald Trump said the US would be willing to contribute assistance to Ukraine as part of a security agreement to end the war with Russia, but continued to express frustration with the pace of talks.

“Yeah, we would help,” Mr Trump told reporters on Dec 11 in the Oval Office. “We would help with security, because it’s, I think, a necessary factor in getting it done.”

Still, he expressed disappointment that Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky had not more readily signed off on an American peace plan
, adding to pressure on officials in Kyiv who pushed back on an earlier US proposal seen as too accommodating to Moscow.

“I thought that we were very close with Russia to having a deal. I thought we were very close with Ukraine having a deal, in fact, other than President Zelensky,” Mr Trump said.

His comments came after his spokeswoman described him as “extremely frustrated with both sides of this war” and “sick of meetings just for the sake of meeting.”

“He doesn’t want any more talk. He wants action,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on on Dec 11. 

Ms Leavitt was noncommittal on whether the US would send anyone to a meeting over the weekend between Ukraine and several European nations on the latest US offer, which is a slimmed-down version of a previous 28-point plan that would have demanded massive concessions from Ukraine.

Mr Trump said his interest was in getting the conflict “settled.”

“We’ll be attending the meeting on Saturday in Europe if we think there’s a good chance,” Mr Trump said. “And we don’t want to waste a lot of time. We think it’s negative.”

Earlier on Dec 11, Mr Zelensky floated the prospect of allowing Ukrainians to vote on whether to hand the Donbas region to Russia.

The Kremlin has insisted that Ukraine withdraw its forces from the eastern territories, which include areas of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions that the Russian military has failed to capture in its nearly four-year invasion. 

“It’s not the easiest thing,” Mr Trump said. “It’s sort of like a complex real estate deal times one thousand, right?”

The US has dramatically scaled back direct military aid for Ukraine under Mr Trump, instead favouring a system under which other NATO allies could purchase American armaments for Kyiv. 

While Washington has previously suggested it could provide intelligence or air support for Ukraine under a deal, Mr Trump on Dec 11 did not specify what type of security guarantees he was willing to make.

The package has been the subject of negotiations between White House and Ukrainian officials in recent days.

Mr Zelensky had earlier submitted a new version of a peace plan to the White House, following discussions with key European partners this week.

The 20-point draft is a “fundamental document” to end the war, Mr Zelensky said. 

Ukrainian territory is at the centre of running discussions among Washington, Kyiv and Moscow as negotiators inch toward a potential agreement to end the war. 

Mr Zelensky’s challenge is that his nation’s armed forces face severe manpower shortages, and Russia continues to make slow but steady land gains, giving that country’s leader, Mr Vladimir Putin, little incentive to end the invasion. BLOOMBERG