Trump sees Europeans ready to deploy troops in Ukraine

"When it comes to security, they are ready to send ground troops," he said in an interview with US broadcaster Fox News. Meanwhile, the United States is prepared to support its allies - for example from the air.

In Germany, there is a debate as to whether the Bundeswehr should participate in peacekeeping operations. Chancellor Friedrich Merz had said in Washington that the question of who would participate in security guarantees and to what extent would have to be discussed between the European partners and the US government.

French President Emmanuel Macron spoke of two security guarantees in order to maintain peace in Ukraine: In addition to a strong Ukrainian army, there should be reassurance troops on land, at sea and in the air.

At the meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and the European leaders on Monday, there was discussion about promises of protection to Ukraine along the lines of Article 5 of the NATO treaty. This states that alliance partners can count on the support of the allies in the event of an attack and that an attack on one member is considered an attack on all.

Trump: Ukraine's desire to join Nato reason for war

In the interview, Trump also cited Ukraine's aspirations to join Nato as a reason for the conflict with Russia. "Russia said: we don't want the so-called adversary or enemy, to use that term, we don't want them on our border. And they were right," he said.

Trump called Russia's annexation of the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea in 2014 and his predecessor Barack Obama's lack of resistance to it "the worst real estate deal I've ever seen". However, the Ukrainians' demand for the return of Crimea is one of the reasons for the conflict now. Once again, the US president did not see Moscow as the aggressor, but blamed Kiev for the war. "You don't mess with a nation ten times your size," he said.