Europe and U.S. prepare to present Ukraine military options

Military chiefs from a number of European countries, alongside the U.S., are to present military options on Ukraine to their respective national security advisers. 

The meetings between the chiefs of defense for the U.S., Finland, France, Germany, Italy, United Kingdom and Ukraine took place in Washington, D.C., between Tuesday and Thursday.

"These options will be presented to each nation's respective national security advisers for appropriate consideration in ongoing diplomatic efforts," a U.S. military statement said.

Ukraine and its European allies were buoyed by U.S. President Trump's promise during a summit on Monday of security guarantees for Kyiv, but many questions remain unanswered.

Officials have cautioned that it would take time for U.S. and European planners to determine what would be both militarily feasible and acceptable to the Kremlin.

One option was sending European forces to Ukraine but putting the U.S. in charge of their command and control, according to sources.

Russia's Foreign Ministry has ruled out the deployment of troops from NATO countries to help secure a peace deal.

Trump has publicly ruled out deploying U.S. troops in Ukraine but on Tuesday appeared to leave the door open to other U.S. military involvement.

Air support

U.S. air support could come in a variety of ways, including providing more air defense systems to Ukraine and enforcing a no-fly zone with U.S. fighter jets.

French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer have both spoken in favor of troop deployments in a settlement of the conflict as part of a 'coalition of the willing', with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz also signaling openness to his country's participation.

The head of Germany's soldiers' union said on Thursday that European NATO leaders must not be naive when discussing a Ukraine peace force but face up to the reality that they would need to deploy tens of thousands of troops to the country for the long term.

Trump has pressed for a quick end to Europe's deadliest conflict in 80 years, and Kyiv and its allies have been worried he could seek to force an agreement on Russia's terms after the president last week met Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

Security guarantees

In comments to reporters released for publication Thursday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he could only meet with Putin after his allies agree security guarantees for Ukraine to deter future Russian attacks once the fighting stops.

He also warned both sides were preparing for further fighting. Russia was building up troops on the southern front line and Ukraine was test-launching a new long-range cruise missile, he said.

"We want to have an understanding of the security guarantees architecture within seven to 10 days," Zelenskyy said.

Russia said on Thursday that Ukraine did not appear to be interested in "long-term" peace, accusing Kyiv of seeking security guarantees completely incompatible with Moscow's demands.

China said on Tuesday it supported "all efforts" aimed at peace between Russia and Ukraine.

Foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning told reporters: "China always believes that dialogue and negotiation are the only solution to the Ukraine crisis…we support all efforts that are conducive to peace."