Bloomberg: US said to deny air cover to Europe Force in Ukraine

US Army in Europe.
Photo: FT

The US is refusing to provide air defenses to back the “reassurance force” the UK and France are planning in a postwar Ukraine, people familiar with the matter said, Bloomberg writes.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has insisted a US so-called backstop is essential to deter Russia from breaching any future ceasefire deal. But European allies have concluded during discussions with their American counterparts that President Donald Trump won’t provide the guarantees they have sought to back the Europe-led ‘coalition of the willing,’ according to the people, who requested anonymity disclosing private discussions.

The US reluctance to provide the backup sought by its European partners highlights how the western allies are at odds over the way to deal with Russian aggression in Ukraine. European officials had said the US guarantee was needed alongside a strong Ukrainian force supported by allied training and troops, in order to deter Russia.

“There must be a US backstop,” Starmer said in February. “US security guarantee is the only way to effectively deter Russia from attacking Ukraine again.” The UK and France had been seeking to persuade Trump to offer air power, as well as border surveillance and intelligence, Bloomberg previously reported.

Despite their downgraded expectations of the potential US offer to postwar Ukraine, the UK and France remain hopeful the US will continue to provide intelligence as well as surveillance of the border between Ukraine and Russia, the people said. Some European officials also hope Trump would intervene if British and French troops were targeted by Russia in Ukraine, but think he is unlikely to put such a guarantee in writing, one of the people said.

The allied force — which would help ensure the security of Ukraine’s airspace, coastline and land by placing European troops away from the border at critical ports and infrastructure alongside continued deliveries of military hardware — is dependent on a peace settlement, which European officials think is increasingly unlikely.

The UK and France have finished mapping out where the force will be based and how it will operate, but have put the plan on ice until ceasefire negotiations resume, the people said.

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