Trump rules out ground troops in Ukraine, but leaves door open for air support

U.S. President Donald Trump pledged "a lot of help" to Ukraine during his summit with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Monday.

But by Tuesday, he made clear there will be no U.S. troops on the ground in Ukraine, leaving only air support as a possible option.

Our Park Hyo-been reports.

U.S. President Donald Trump, on Tuesday, during an interview with Fox News, gave his "assurance" that U.S. troops will not be on the ground in Ukraine.

Later, the White House doubled down on that during a briefing.

" the president has definitively stated U.S. boots will not be on the ground in Ukraine."

That statement was in contrast to remarks made the previous day, when he appeared to leave the option on the table during the summit with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

"There'll be a lot of there'll be a lot of help when it comes to security. There's going to be a lot of help. It's going to be good. They are first line of defense because they're there, they're Europe, But we're going to help them out also. We'll be involved."

Still, Washington indicated that air support could be considered as part of any eventual settlement to end the conflict.

Trump, speaking to Fox News, said the U.S. is willing to help, especially probably through "the air."

The White House said that air support remains possible.

"It is an option and a possibility. I won't certainly rule out anything as far as military options that the president has at his disposal. I'll let him do that. I can tell you he's definitively ruled out boots on the ground."

In addition, Trump declared that Ukraine's long-standing ambitions of joining NATO and reclaiming Crimea from Russia were "impossible."

Russia wants Ukraine to withdraw from Donetsk and Luhansk, and to recognize Crimea as Russian territory in exchange for a possible troop pullout.

Meanwhile, when U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent was asked on Fox News about whether Budapest could be a possible city for the three-way talks, as had been reported, he said that it "could be" the case, but that the bilateral meeting between Zelenskyy and Putin needed to happen first.

Hungary is among the few European countries Putin could visit without the risk of arrest under an International Criminal Court warrant, given Prime Minister Viktor Orban's close ties with Moscow.

Alongside discussions over a potential summit venue, leaders at the Washington talks on Monday revisited the idea of establishing a Korean-style buffer zone protected by multinational troops, according to EU sources.

Park Hyo-been, Arirang News.