Trump rules out troops on the ground in Ukraine but may provide air support

發佈日期: 2025-08-20 19:44

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U.S. President Donald Trump has ruled out putting troops on the ground in Ukraine but said the United States might provide air support as part of a deal to end Russia's war in the country.

Meanwhile, Trump has discussed with Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban the possibility of the Hungarian capital, Budapest, serving as host for potential future talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Hungary is one of the few European places that Putin can visit without fear of arrest on International Criminal Court war crime charges.   

Switzerland's foreign minister also says his country will be ready to host Putin for any peace talks on Ukraine.

Tracey Furniss reports.

The White House insisted Tuesday that Russian leader Vladimir Putin promised U.S. President Donald Trump he would have a direct meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy despite the Kremlin not yet saying whether Putin has signed off on the meeting.

Karoline Leavitt, White House press secretary said: "The president has spoken to both leaders about this, and both leaders have expressed a willingness to sit down with each other, and so our national security team will help both countries do that."

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNBC Tuesday that both sides are ready to end this war.

Scott Bessent, U.S. Treasury Secretary said: "I think the sense 'is that both sides are ready for this terrible conflict to end. And one of the ways to make President Putin want it to end is on the economic side. The Russian economy has 20 percent plus inflation. Right now, it is a war economy."

Despite guarded optimism for a possible end to the war among leaders,  ome analysts believe there was little concrete progress on the main obstacles to peace.

Chris Megerian, The Associated Press: "Ukraine wants security guarantees to prevent future Russian aggression, and Trump wants to end the war as soon as possible. This has raised a lot of questions about what the next steps would actually look like to actually resolving this conflict that's dragged on for years. Who will provide the security guarantees? What will they look like? Will they involve soldiers in Ukraine instead of a peacekeeping force? Will there be something kind of like NATO, where an attack on one is an attack on all. All these are really open questions right now."

This as European Council President Antonio Costa spoke to reporters about security guarantees for Ukraine.

Antonio Costa, European Council President said: "There is growing momentum around providing Ukraine with security guarantees, including the agreement of the United States President Trump to participate in this effort. We welcome this. We have been working towards it for a long time, and Europe is ready to do its part at all levels."