EUROPEAN leaders claimed ahead of US President Donald Trump’s Alaska summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday that Washington has now agreed to take part in any postwar security guarantees offered Ukraine.

There was no response from the White House to the claim, which would be a shift from President Trump’s previous stance. The absence of a so-called US “backstop,” committing the United States to support any deployment by its Nato allies on Ukrainian territory in a hypothetical postwar scenario, has so far been a major weakness in the scheme, since most European militaries have limited operational independence.

Exactly what Washington has conceded remains vague: European Council president Antonio Costa said he welcomed “the readiness of the United States to share with Europe the efforts to reinforce security conditions once we obtain a durable and just peace for Ukraine,” while French President Emmanuel Macron said Mr Trump still insisted Nato would not offer security guarantees to Ukraine but agreed that “the United States and all the parties involved should take part.”

The so-called “coalition of the willing” — European countries ready to station troops in a postwar Ukraine, to deter future Russian attack — has been championed mainly by Mr Macron and British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer. Italy, Greece and Poland have all ruled out sending troops.

It is also likely that Russia will continue to insist that a ban on Nato troops on Ukrainian soil is a condition of a ceasefire.

However, US Vice-President JD Vance attended a session of the “multinational task force Ukraine” for the first time, suggesting a warmer attitude than previously from the US.