Former U.S. Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul on Monday lauded the Trump administration for its push for peace talks between Russia and Ukraine as well as European leaders’ unified show of support for Kyiv during their White House visit.
McFaul, who served in the Obama administration, said during an appearance on NBC News where he is an analyst that it was a “brilliant, brilliant” idea for the seven European leaders to meet with President Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Washington.
The former ambassador said “talking about security guarantees with European soldiers being a part of that — that is major progress, with American assistance.”
“I, myself, would like NATO guarantees rather than NATO-like guarantees. But if you have to compromise, I think this is an important compromise and a step forward,” he added.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Finnish President Alexander Stubb visited the White House and met with Trump and Zelensky, sharing developments after the meeting with the press. The heads of NATO and the European Commission were also in attendance.
“Whoever had the idea to bring all these European leaders together in addition to President Zelensky, that was a brilliant, brilliant idea,” McFaul told NBC.
“And having it come so quickly after Alaska was also very important, because now they’ve changed the talking points here. Just in this meeting alone, they’ve walked back some of the positions that the president was echoing when he met with President Putin,” he continued, referring to the Russian leader.
Putin praised Trump in Alaska for seeking to personally help facilitate a resolution to the war, while saying he hoped Ukraine and European leaders don’t “throw a wrench in the works.”
McFaul acknowledged Monday that details over a pending deal have yet to be revealed, and Trump on Tuesday ruled out U.S. boots on the ground as part of any security guarantee with Ukraine.
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