How Trump plans to shield Ukraine from Russian strikes? US may give air cover, no ground troops

While the United States has ruled out sending troops to Ukraine to shield the country from any future attacks by Russia, President Donald Trump said on Tuesday, August 19, that his country might provide air support as part of a deal to end Russia’s war in the country. This has come as Donald Trump pledged security guarantee to Ukraine to help end the war.

“When it comes to security, (Europeans) are willing to put people on the ground. We’re willing to help them with things, especially, probably … by air,” Trump said in an interview with the Fox News “Fox & Friends” program.

Trump, without offering details, described his approach to ending the war as “probably instinct more than process.”

Meanwhile, Russia launched its biggest air assault in more than a month on Ukraine, with 270 drones and 10 missiles launched, the Ukrainian air force said. The energy ministry said the strikes caused big fires at energy facilities in the central Poltava region, home to Ukraine’s only oil refinery. 

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha wrote on X, “While hard work to advance peace was underway in Washington, DC, Moscow continued to do the opposite of peace: more strikes and destruction.”

“An ordinary apartment block … families with small children, a children’s playground, a residential compound,” a person was quoted as saying by Reuters. Also Read | Trump-Zelensky meeting: What does it mean for Trump’s tariffs on India? EXPLAINED

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, too, confirmed that US air support was “an option and a possibility,” but did not provide any details.

“The president has definitively stated U.S. boots will not be on the ground in Ukraine, but we can certainly help in the coordination and perhaps provide other means of security guarantees to our European allies,” she said at a news briefing.