Some more clarity emerged on the US plans for Ukraine as US President Donald Trump held his first cabinet meeting on February 26. The terms are harsh, shifting the bulk of the burden to Europe.

Ukraine can forget about its aspiration to join Nato, Trump told journalists. Asked what concessions the White House was planning as part of the ongoing ceasefire negotiations, Trump said: "I don’t want to tell you right now. But I can tell you, Nato you can forget about. That’s probably the reason the whole thing started," the president went on to say.

He also said that the US would not provide any security guarantees, and the US is expecting Europe to carry the entire load of providing for Ukraine’s security.

He also said that the US does not intend to provide Ukraine with any security guarantees, a core part of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's victory plan that he presented to his Western allies at the end of last year.

"I’m not going to make security guarantees beyond very much," he said. "We’re going to have Europe do that, because Europe is the next door neighbour. But we are going to make sure that everything goes well," he said.

However, he added that he expects Russian President Vladimir Putin to be forced to make some concessions in the ceasefire deal talks. "Yeah, he will. He’s going to have to," Trump told reporters.

Pressed on the question of returning territory occupied by Russia to Ukraine’s control, Trump said that was on the agenda, but it would be “very difficult.” He vowed to do the most to ensure the “best deal” both for Ukraine and Russia.

"We're going to do the best we can to make the best deal we can for both sides. But for Ukraine, we're going to try very hard to make a good deal so that they can get as much back as possible. We want to get as much back as possible," Trump said.

France and the UK have indicated that they would be willing to contribute to a peacekeeping force of some 30,000 soldiers, but both are pushing for the US to give some sort of security “backstop” to the arrangement, something the White House has so far rejected.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov repeated earlier comments that the presence of Western Nato-back troops on Ukrainian soil was off the table on February 27 and that the Kremlin would never accept a deal that includes Western peacekeepers in Ukraine. Others have argued that peacekeepers would, at a minimum, need a UN mandate.

Most EU members have refused to contribute to a peacekeeping force, for fear of provoking Russia into a wider war. Croatian President Zoran Milanovic said following a meeting in Ljubljana with his Slovenian counterpart Natasa Pirc Musar that peacekeepers in Ukraine were “perilous.”

"What 30,000 peacekeepers? Where do they even exist? Let's imagine that Russia will agree to this, and it won't, so this is already becoming a mortal danger for those who have to go there," Milanovic said in a statement released by his office.

French President Emmanuel Macron was in Washington earlier this week, but failed to get Trump’s support for security deals or peacekeepers. UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is also due in Washington on February 27 to lobby for the same.

London and Paris would like to receive fire support from Washington if their peacekeepers end up in harm’s way. As part of the plan, Paris and London want to use ground forces, aviation and the navy, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Trump argued that the harsh minerals deal that is expected to be signed with Zelenskiy on February 28 would be enough to ensure Ukraine’s security. Bankova conceded signing the third version of the minerals deal, but the full text of the minerals deal contains no security guarantees for Ukraine nor promises of continued military or financial support post-war. But Trump said it was "a great deal for Ukraine too".

"We are going to be working over there. We'll be on the land. And you know, in that way, it's sort of automatic security because nobody is going to be messing around with our people when we're there. And so, we'll be there in that way," Trump explained.

In his opinion, Europe "will be watching it very closely".

"I know that the UK has said and France has said that they... volunteered to put so-called peacekeepers on the site [in Ukraine – ed.] and I think that's a good thing," Trump concluded, reports Ukrainska Pravda.

European leaders have become increasingly alarmed by the rapidly warming relations between the White House and the Kremlin after the ceasefire negotiations kicked off in Riyadh on February 18.

The US voted with Russia and against a UN resolution this week that condemned Russia as the aggressor in the war in Ukraine on the occasion of the third anniversary of the start of the war.  The UN resolution, drafted by Kyiv and supported by all EU states except Hungary, reaffirmed Ukraine's territorial integrity and explicitly named Russia as the aggressor.

The US also abstained from signing a statement by members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) condemning Russian aggression on February 26, breaking from its Western allies.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who leads the delegation, said there was an opportunity to “unlock a historic US-Russia economic alliance”, strongly suggesting the White House is intending to cut deals with Russia.

Kirill Dmitriev, the head of Russia’s sovereign wealth fund, confirmed that two sides discussed the Arctic at the first meeting, which accounts for 80% of Russia’s gas production and 17% of oil production in 2024. On February 26, he also admitted that a parallel set of discussions was launched in Riyadh, led by himself, to discuss potential business deals.

Putin added to the speculation by ordering his government to open the door to the return of Western companies, but made it clear they would only be allowed back on the Kremlin’s terms, which was expecting them to invest in the annexed territories in Ukraine.