US, NATO planners start to craft Ukraine security guarantee options

U.S. and European military planners have begun exploring post-conflict security guarantees for Ukraine, U.S. officials and sources told Reuters on Tuesday (19 August), following President Donald Trump’s pledge to help protect the country under any deal to end Russia’s war.

Ukraine and its European allies have been buoyed by Trump’s promise during a summit on Monday of security guarantees for Kyiv, but many questions remain unanswered.

US security guarantees to Ukraine no longer taboo after extraordinary White House meeting

Officials told Reuters that the Pentagon is carrying out planning exercises on the support Washington could offer beyond providing weapons.

But they cautioned that it would take time for U.S. and European planners to determine what would be both militarily feasible and acceptable to the Kremlin.

One option was sending European forces to Ukraine but putting the U.S. in charge of their command and control, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters. The sources added that the troops would not be under a NATO banner but operate under their own nations’ flags.

The Pentagon and NATO did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the idea.

In a press briefing, the White House said that the United States could help coordinate a security guarantee for Ukraine.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry has ruled out the deployment of troops from NATO countries to help secure a peace deal.

Possible U.S. air support

Trump has publicly ruled out deploying U.S. troops in Ukraine but on Tuesday appeared to leave the door open to other U.S. military involvement.

In an interview with Fox News “Fox & Friends” program, he suggested Washington could provide air support to Ukraine.

“When it comes to security, (Europeans) are willing to put people on the ground, we’re willing to help them with things, especially, probably, … by air because nobody has stuff we have, really they don’t have,” Trump said.

He did not provide further details.

U.S. air support could come in a variety of ways including providing more air defence systems to Ukraine and enforcing a no-fly zone with U.S. fighter jets.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed that U.S. air support was “an option and a possibility,” but, like Trump, she did not provide any details.

“The president has definitively stated U.S. boots will not be on the ground in Ukraine, but we can certainly help in the coordination and perhaps provide other means of security guarantees to our European allies,” she said at a news briefing.

Following Monday’s meeting, Russia launched its biggest air assault in more than a month on Ukraine, with 270 drones and 10 missiles launched, the Ukrainian air force said. The energy ministry said the strikes caused big fires at energy facilities in the central Poltava region, home to Ukraine’s only oil refinery.

Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of its neighbour in 2022, the United States has shipped billions of dollars worth of weapons and munitions to Kyiv.

The Trump administration briefly halted those weapons shipments, including after a contentious White House meeting between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in February and again in July.

Shipments have resumed and Trump has pledged to send weapons, primarily defensive ones, to help the war-torn country.

NATO military leaders to meet

NATO military chiefs will focus on Ukraine and the way forward when they meet virtually on Wednesday.

U.S. Air Force General Alexus Grynkewich, who also oversees NATO operations in Europe, will brief the chiefs of defence on the Alaska meeting between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin last week.

A U.S. official speaking on condition of anonymity said U.S. General Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was expected to attend the meeting.

The official added that Caine would meet with some of his European counterparts in Washington on Tuesday evening.

Next summit venues discussed

Trump discussed Budapest as a venue for a summit involving Zelenskyy and Putin with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban on Tuesday, a White House official said.

Istanbul, where delegations for the two countries have met previously, has also been mentioned, a senior administration official said.

Hungary is one of the few European places that Putin could visit without fear of arrest on International Criminal Court charges as Orban maintains close ties with the Russian leader. It was unclear whether Ukraine would accept Hungary as a venue.

Neutral Switzerland also said it would be ready to host Putin for any peace talks.

“They are in the process of setting it up,” Trump told radio host Levin about a Putin/Zelenskyy meeting.

But Trump cast doubt on whether he would attend. “Now I think it would be better if they met without me. … If necessary, I’ll go,” he said.

Trump, asked how he balanced the interests of all the parties involved, said, “Well, it’s probably instinct more than process. I have instincts.”

With Reuters, edited by g.g.

Caption: Dutch caretaker Prime Minister Dick Schoof talks to the media on US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky meeting in the White house, in The Hague, the Netherlands, 19 August 2025. Several EU leaders and NATO chief Mark Rutte together with Ukrainian President Zelensky met with US President Trump in the White house on 18 August to discuss the Ukraine-Russia conflict. EPA/LINA SELG