Trump, Russia Share Conflicting Views on European Peacekeepers in Ukraine

Russia remains wary of NATO offering alliance membership to Ukraine or deploying its troops within Ukraine’s borders.

(Left) U.S. President Donald Trump in the East Room at the White House in Washington on Feb. 24, 2025; (Right) Russian President Vladimir Putin gives a speech at the Kremlin in Moscow on Feb. 23, 2025. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images; Alexander Kazakov/Pool/AFP via Getty Images

The White House and the Kremlin have shared conflicting statements in recent days about the prospect of European troops serving as peacekeepers in Ukraine as part of an eventual settlement to end the ongoing Russia–Ukraine conflict.

While meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron at the White House on Feb. 24, President Donald Trump told reporters that European troops could be sent to Ukraine to help enforce a final peace settlement. Trump said he had spoken to Russian President Vladimir Putin about the idea and insisted that the Russian leader “has no problem with it.”