European capitals are working on “pretty precise plans” for potential military deployments to Ukraine as part of post-conflict security guarantees that will have the full backing of US capabilities, Ursula von der Leyen has said.
There was a “clear road map” for possible deployments, the European Commission president told the
Financial Times in an interview.
“Security guarantees are paramount and absolutely crucial,” von der Leyen said. “We have a clear road map and we had an agreement in the White House . . . and this work is going forward very well.”
Von der Leyen spoke while on a tour of eastern EU states close to Russia this weekend, during which she is focusing on efforts to increase national defence spending and bolster the continent’s military readiness.
Her remarks came amid planning for a meeting of European leaders this week at which they are set to firm up national commitments to the western force.
She said capitals were working on plans for “a multinational troop [deployment] and the backstop of the Americans”.
“President Trump reassured us that there will be [an] American presence as part of the backstop,” she said. “That was very clear and repeatedly affirmed.”
Ukraine has demanded concrete security guarantees from its western backers, including troops on the ground, as part of any peace deal to end Russian President Vladimir Putin’s three-and-a-half-year war.
The troops are set to include potentially tens of thousands of European-led personnel, backed by assistance from the US including command and control systems and intelligence and surveillance assets. That arrangement was agreed at a meeting between President Donald Trump, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and senior European leaders last month.
Those who met Trump in Washington are expected to gather in Paris on Thursday at the invitation of France’s President Emmanuel Macron to continue the high-level discussions, three diplomats briefed on the plans told the FT.
