NATO defense chiefs wrap talks on Ukraine security, but the path forward is unclear
U.S. and European defense chiefs met to discuss options to help Ukraine.
Top U.S. and European defense officials spent much of this week privately discussing possible military options in Ukraine that would bolster the Eastern European country’s protections against Russia as part of a broader peace agreement. But the alliance’s top military officials appeared to emerge without a concrete proposal -- at least not one they were willing to discuss publicly.
Gen. Dan Caine, President Donald Trump’s top military adviser and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, invited several of his European counterparts to dinner at his home at Fort Myer in Virginia on Tuesday evening. The discussion continued Wednesday online with a briefing by Gen. Alexus Grynkewich, the top U.S. commander in Europe, who also serves as head of NATO forces, officials said.
The talks were aimed at providing military options that Trump and other political leaders in the NATO alliance could use to guarantee Ukraine’s security as part of a peace deal between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Zelenskyy has aggressively sought security guarantees from the alliance to ensure Russia would not attack again.
"The Chiefs of Defense developed military options to support negotiations to bring a lasting peace to Europe," said Joseph Holstead, a Joint Staff spokesperson. "These options will be presented to each nation’s respective national security advisors for appropriate consideration in ongoing diplomatic efforts. Planning and communication will continue as negotiations evolve."
United Kingdom officials have said previously that Great Britain and France are prepared to lead a multinational force in Ukraine, but it was not clear how many troops would be involved, from which countries, or what exactly the troops would do.
On Tuesday, U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer hailed the possibility of NATO-backed security guarantees as a “breakthrough,” noting that the U.S. was now working “at pace” with 30 or so other countries, which he called a “coalition of the willing,” to help Ukraine.
“These guarantees will ensure that if there is a peace, if there is a deal, then we hold to it and there isn't further conflict,” Starmer said in a video post on X.
Likewise, Gen. Keith Kellogg, Trump's special envoy to Russia and Ukraine, said the security guarantees will ultimately help achieve any ceasefire in the three-year war.
"If you bring in good security guarantees, this allows Zelenskyy some options as well to work with Putin so he can settle this conflict, and I think w'ere on a path to do that," Kellogg told Fox Business on Tuesday.
But along with any commitment of troops, details on these possible security guarantees remained elusive Wednesday, as several officials said the discussions were still in the early stages and would need to become part of a broader political discussion going forward.
According to one person familiar with the discussions, NATO troops sent to Ukraine would be focused primarily on training Ukrainian troops, not participating in military operations against Russian forces.
Ivo Daalder, a former U.S. ambassador to NATO, told ABC News Live on Wednesday it was unlikely that NATO would cobble together a security agreement that would be acceptable to both Ukraine and the Europeans and to Russia.
“What you may get is a ceasefire, perhaps even an armistice, a more formal ceasefire that would require NATO security or European security guarantees to Ukraine to ensure that Russia does not restart the war,” Daalder continued.
The Pentagon’s top policy official, Elbridge Colby, told allies at the Tuesday night meeting that the U.S. plans to play a minimal role in any Ukraine security guarantees, Politico reported. In a statement, Pentagon Press Secretary Kingsley Wilson confirmed Colby's attendance, saying he was there to relay guidance from the president and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
"At the event, Under Secretary Colby focused on ensuring the discussion reflected President Trump’s statements on the matter, particularly emphasizing President Trump’s remarks earlier in the day," she said.
NATO officials struck an optimistic tone Wednesday following meetings with their counterparts, while avoiding discussing specifics.
“NATO has faced important times before,” said Col. Martin L. O’Donnell, a spokesperson for Grynkewich and the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe, in a statement following the meetings.
“And these have only made our Alliance Stronger,” he added.
Adm. Giuseppe Cavo Dragone, chair of the NATO military committee, said members confirmed their support for Ukraine during the meeting Wednesday.
The “priority continues to be a just, credible and durable peace,” he wrote.
For his part, Trump has said only that he won’t send ground troops and suggested the U.S. could help with air assets.
“President Trump has been clear that the U.S. will not be sending boots on the ground, but may be willing to help in other ways,” a White House official told reporters on Wednesday.
“Beyond that, is it not in the national interest to negotiate these issues in public,” the official added.
-ABC News Aicha Elhammar and Luis Martinez contributed to this report.
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