Top US and European military leaders are working on plans to provide security guarantees to Ukraine, officials said. They shared their ideas with national security advisers this week, as efforts continue to find ways of protecting the country while the war with Russia drags on. This followed US President Donald Trump\u2019s pledge to help protect the country under any deal to end Russia\u2019s three-and-a-half-year-old war in Ukraine. A Pentagon statement said US and European planners had developed the military options for \u201cappropriate consideration\u201d by allied national security advisers. Reuters was the first to report that the military leaders were preparing the options. The chiefs of defence for the United States, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom and Ukraine met in Washington, DC, between Tuesday and Thursday. A source familiar with the matter said US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who also serves as Trump\u2019s national security adviser, held a conference call on Thursday with his European counterparts to discuss the options. A separate US official said Rubio spoke with UK National Security Adviser Jonathan Powell, the European Commission president\u2019s head of cabinet Bjoern Seibert, NATO secretary general\u2019s chief of staff Geoffrey van Leeuwen, and other national security counterparts in France, Italy, Germany and Finland. Final details must still be worked out, the source familiar with the matter said, but European countries would provide \u201cthe lion\u2019s share\u201d of any forces involved in security guarantees for Ukraine. That echoed Vice President JD Vance\u2019s comment on Wednesday that Europe would need to shoulder \u201cthe lion\u2019s share\u201d of the costs of the operation. \u201cThe planning work continues,\u201d said the source, adding that Washington was still \u201cdetermining the scope of its role.\u201d Trump has said he will not deploy US troops in Ukraine but has left the door open to other US military involvement, including air support. Troop deploymentsOne option was sending European forces to Ukraine but putting the United States in charge of their command and control, sources told Reuters. US air support could come in several ways, including providing more air defence systems to Ukraine and enforcing a no-fly zone with US fighter jets. French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer have both supported troop deployments as part of a \u201ccoalition of the willing\u201d, with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz also signalling openness to his country\u2019s participation. The head of Germany\u2019s soldiers\u2019 union said on Thursday that European NATO leaders must face the reality that tens of thousands of troops would need to be deployed in a Ukraine peace force for the long term. Trump has pressed for a quick end to Europe\u2019s deadliest war in 80 years, while Kyiv and its allies have expressed concern he could seek to force an agreement on Russia\u2019s terms. Ukraine security guarantees on agenda for US, European military chiefs \u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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