WASHINGTON — US President Donald Trump says that his country will be involved in providing security guarantees as part of a peace agreement on ending Russia’s war.
Speaking to reporters at the White House alongside his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky, Trump says that while European countries are “the first line of defense because they are there, they are Europe, we’re going to help them out also. We’ll be involved.”
Trump repeats his view that a ceasefire was not necessary to end the war, echoing earlier comments that brought his position more in line with Russian President Vladimir Putin, whom he met last week.
“I don’t think you need a ceasefire,” Trump says.
“I know that it might be good to have, but I can also understand strategically why one country or the other wouldn’t want it. You have a ceasefire and they rebuild and rebuild and rebuild and you know maybe they don’t want that.”
Trump says he will talk to Putin after meeting with Zelensky and European leaders at the White House.
AP contributed to this report.
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