LONDON — United States and NATO officials were set to meet Wednesday to discuss security guarantees for Ukraine as the White House worked to arrange a summit between Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russia’s Vladimir Putin.
Ukraine and its European allies appeared buoyed after Trump promised during their meeting in Washington that the U.S. would provide security guarantees as part of any settlement with Russia — a red-line issue for Kyiv.
Trump made clear Tuesday that this would not include U.S. “boots on the ground” but could see the U.S. provide air support as part of such an arrangement.
Military chiefs from NATO’s 32 member countries will meet virtually later Wednesday to discuss the way forward.
That comes after Gen. Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, hosted several European Chiefs of Defense on Tuesday evening, a defense official told NBC News.
Secretary of State and National Security Advisor Marco Rubio will be leading the effort to coordinate security guarantees among allies, according to a White House official.
Meanwhile, the White House is actively looking to secure a meeting location and date for a Putin-Zelenskyy summit to discuss an end to the Kremlin’s war, according to a senior administration official.
Trump is pushing to arrange a meeting between the two leaders, convinced it can break the deadlock.
The Hungarian capital Budapest and Swiss city of Geneva have been discussed as potential sites, the official said, adding that both presidents Trump and Putin have a good relationship with Hungarian leader Viktor Orban.
Various nations have offered to host, including Switzerland.
The Kremlin is yet to comment on whether Putin would meet with Zelenskyy, and any meeting would be complicated by the arrest warrant issued for Putin by the International Criminal Court.
Gordon Lubold, Abigail Williams, Mosheh Gains and Kelly O’Donnell contributed.
