The US is considering various options for air support as part of future security guarantees for Ukraine, with a preference for the use of unmanned aerial vehicles rather than fixed-wing aircraft, CNN reported, citing its sources.
According to them, the military discussed a wide range of options this week, with air support being one of the main topics. While there is "some concern" in the Trump administration about sending US pilots to carry out manned missions over Ukraine, there is "a lot of openness" to the idea of using drones.
The possibility of US pilots conducting observation flights over Ukraine is also seen as a "temporary option“. This would provide high-resolution images from the front lines without the need for American fighter jets to fly air policing missions.
US President Donald Trump said in an interview with Fox News that security guarantees for Ukraine could not include NATO protection. He added that the United States would be ready to help Europe, especially “if we are talking about air power“, without explaining exactly what he meant. He also noted that there would be no US troops on Ukrainian territory while he is US president.
The topic of sending Western troops to Ukraine if the crisis is resolved was again actively raised by European politicians after Volodymyr Zelensky met with US President Donald Trump in Washington on Monday. Moscow is against the presence of NATO troops in Ukraine, a position that was reiterated the same day by Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova. On Thursday, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov stressed that providing security guarantees of Ukraine through “foreign military intervention in any part of Ukrainian territory“ would be unacceptable to Russia.