Donald Trump has revealed he only gave security guarantees to Ukraine because he feels “strongly” that Russia will not invade its neighbour again.
Ukraine celebrated on Tuesday when the US confirmed for the first time that it would support Kyiv in the event of a peace deal with Moscow.
Trump’s officials promised to hep “deter” any future aggression towards Ukraine, and “defend” the country if another attack ever takes place.
But Trump poured cold water on the American promise during an interview with the New York Times this week.
He said: “I feel strongly they [Russia] wouldn’t re-invade, or I wouldn’t agree to it.”
European allies have been pushing to secure such US security guarantees for months, with UK prime minister Keir Starmer even warning any peace deal is doomed to fail without America’s backing.
Speaking to MPs in December, Starmer said: “European history is full of peace agreements that failed and sometimes led to even greater conflict.
“And that is why it’s really important we attend to this in detail. Putin has shown time and again that he will keep coming back for more if he sees the chance.”
The American security pledges come after months of reluctance from Trump, who wants Europe to stop relying on the US for defence.
He recently pushed members of the Nato alliance to increase their defence spending to 5% of their GDP by 2035.
Speaking to the New York Times, the president reiterated his calls for Europe to “shape up”.
He said: “I think we’ll always get along with Europe, but I want them to shape up.
“I’m the one that got them to spend more on the, you know, more GDP on Nato.
“But if you look at Nato, Russia I can tell you is not at all concerned with any other country but us.”
Russia actually fumed after the UK and France agreed to send troops to Ukraine in the event of a peace deal.
A spokesperson called their joint written statement “militarist declarations” and saying any foreign troops in Ukraine would be “combat targets”.
Trump also told reporters this week: “I’ve been very loyal to Europe. I’ve done a good job. If it weren’t for me, Russia would have all of Ukraine right now.”
Russia currently holds a fifth of Ukraine’s sovereign land, almost four years after Vladimir Putin first ordered his invasion.
Moscow has occupied roughly the same amount of Ukraine’s territory for most of that four-year period, even though Trump only returned to office at the start of 2025.