Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on August 21, 2025
3 min readLast updated: January 22, 2026
US and European military leaders discuss security options for Ukraine, focusing on troop deployments and air support. Trump pledges support but avoids deploying US troops.
By Idrees Ali and Jonathan Landay
(Reuters) -Military chiefs from the United States and a number of European countries on Thursday presented options to their national security advisers for providing security guarantees to Ukraine, officials said.
This followed U.S. President Donald Trump's pledge to help protect the country under any deal to end Russia's 3-1/2-year-old war in Ukraine.
A Pentagon statement said U.S. and European planners had developed the military options for "appropriate consideration" by allied national security advisers. Reuters was first to report that the military leaders were preparing the options.
The chiefs of defense for the United States, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, United Kingdom and Ukraine met in Washington, D.C., between Tuesday and Thursday.
A source familiar with the matter said U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who also serves as Trump's national security adviser, held a conference call on Thursday with his European counterparts to discuss the options.
Final details must still be worked out, the source said, but European countries would provide "the lion's share" of any forces involved in security guarantees for Ukraine.
That echoed Vice President JD Vance's comment on Wednesday that Europe would need to shoulder "the lion's share" of the costs of the operation.
"The planning work continues," said the source, adding that Washington still was "determining the scope of its role."
Trump has said he will not deploy U.S. troops in Ukraine but has left the door open to other U.S. military involvement, including air support.
TROOP DEPLOYMENTS
One option was sending European forces to Ukraine but putting the United States in charge of their command and control, sources have told Reuters.
U.S. air support could come in a variety of ways, including providing more air defense systems to Ukraine and enforcing a no-fly zone with U.S. fighter jets.
French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer have both supported troop deployments as part of a coalition of the willing, with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz also signaling openness to his country's participation.
The head of Germany's soldiers' 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's deadliest war in 80 years, and Kyiv and its allies have worried he could seek to force an agreement on Russia's terms.
(Reporting by Idrees Ali in Toronto; Editing by Lisa Shumaker, Mark Porter, Don Durfee and Cynthia Osterman)
Military chiefs from the US and European countries are presenting options for providing security guarantees to Ukraine, including troop deployments and air support.
While Trump has stated he will not deploy US troops in Ukraine, he has left open the possibility of other military involvement, such as air support and command of European forces.
French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer have both expressed support for troop deployments as part of a coalition of willing nations.
The Pentagon stated that US and European planners have developed military options for appropriate consideration by allied national security advisers.
European countries are expected to provide the majority of forces involved in security guarantees for Ukraine, as indicated by comments from US officials.
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