Zelenskyy: Trump considering US troop deployment in Ukraine

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told reporters that Donald Trump is weighing sending American troops to Ukraine as peace talks between that country and Russia falter.

Zelenskyy made the claims while talking to reporters via WhatsApp,  Reuters national security correspondent Idress Ali shared on social media. The talks were confirmed by Ukrainian news agency Ukrinform. Speaking to the outlet, Zelenskyy said the decision would ultimately come down to Trump.

“To be honest, this can only be confirmed by the President of the United States of America. These are U.S. troops, and therefore it is America that makes such decisions. Of course, we are discussing this both with President Trump and with representatives of the Coalition [of the Willing],” he said.

Talk of U.S. boots on the ground comes after weeks of peace talks between the U.S., Ukraine and Russia. Zelenskyy’s reveal of potential troop deployments follows the news of a reported drone strike on Russian leader Vladimir Putin’s residence in Valdai. Zelenskyy has denied the claims from Russia, calling it “fake news” and a “complete fabrication.” He said that Putin was attempting to undermine “fairly successful” peace talks.

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“Strikes on Putin’s Valdai residence are fake news; no one struck it,” he told reporters this week. “In my opinion, it is more related to the fact that there was a fairly successful dialogue and positive meetings between our teams over the course of the month, the culmination of which was our meeting with President Trump.”