“Europe is going to have to take the lion’s share of the burden” when it comes to guaranteeing security for Ukraine, U.S. Vice President JD Vance said.
“It’s their continent, it’s their security, and the president has been very clear—they are going to have to step up here,” he said on Wednesday, August 20th, underscoring President Donald Trump’s demand that European nations take primary responsibility for Ukraine’s security.
Trump has ruled out putting U.S. troops on the ground in Ukraine, though he has signalled Washington could provide air support as part of any deal to end Russia’s three-and-a-half-year invasion of Ukraine.
With billions of dollars in U.S. aid already sent to Kyiv, the White House has insisted it will not continue “writing blank checks,” making it clear that Europe must shoulder more of the costs.
This policy is in line with Trump’s demands that European members of the NATO military alliance spend more on their own defence instead of relying on America for security.
European talk of sending a peacekeeping force has meanwhile exposed sharp political divisions.
In Germany, Chancellor Friedrich Merz cautiously indicated openness to a possible role while stressing any deployment would require both a Bundestag mandate and coordination with partners.
But even his foreign minister has warned such a mission “would probably overwhelm us.”
The right-wing opposition Alternative für Deutschland (AfD), now leading national opinion polls, accused Merz of warmongering for even considering the idea of ground troops and denounced the idea as “dangerous and irresponsible.”
Public opinion is balanced: 49% of Germans back troop participation, while 45% oppose it. Resistance is particularly strong in the east, where regional elections are due next year. Critics argue that Germany’s armed forces remain underfunded and overstretched.
Elsewhere, French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer have expressed support for European troop commitments in a post-war settlement.
But it is questionable whether Europe’s depleted militaries can credibly deliver on such pledges, given years of underinvestment and their continued reliance on U.S. capabilities.
For Ukraine, security guarantees remain an urgent priority. President Volodymyr Zelensky has rejected concessions of territory despite Trump’s suggestion that “land-swapping” could be central to any peace deal.
Russia currently controls one-fifth of Ukraine’s territory. It has full control of the Luhansk region as well as the Crimean peninsula, which it annexed in 2014. Three other regions, Donetsk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia are under partial Russian occupation.
On Thursday, August 21st, Zelensky said he could meet Russian President Vladimir Putin but only after his country had received security guarantees.
We need to understand which country will be ready to do what at each specific moment.
He ruled out Chinese involvement as a guarantor, citing Beijing’s tilt towards Moscow.
Zelensky proposed Switzerland, Austria, or Turkey as possible venues for future talks involving himself, Trump, and Putin.
Russia, however, has rejected outright any suggestion of NATO-linked peacekeepers. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Wednesday called Western attempts to resolve security issues relating to Ukraine without Moscow’s participation “a road to nowhere.”
We cannot agree with the fact that now it is proposed to resolve questions of security, collective security, without the Russian Federation. This will not work.
