The national security adviser also says that more investment is needed to make it work.
National security adviser Mike Waltz said Monday that the United States welcomes Europe’s increased role in its own security, following British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s statement that Europe is ready to take the lead on security guarantees for Ukraine after a potential peace agreement with Russia.
“We welcome the Europeans taking a lead in European security,” Waltz told reporters outside the White House on March 3. He also said that this shift requires European nations to invest more in their defense capabilities.
“We welcome Europe stepping up for Europe, but they have to also invest in the capabilities to do so, and all of that was evident and repeatedly communicated with the Ukrainians before Friday,” Waltz said.
Waltz’s comments came after a tense Feb. 28 White House meeting between President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Zelenskyy had traveled to Washington to sign an economic cooperation agreement, largely focused on giving the United States access to Ukraine’s rare earth and critical mineral deposits in exchange for U.S. military aid in its war with Russia. The agreement is also the first step toward a cease-fire negotiation between Ukraine and Russia, which the Trump administration has sought to broker.
At the Oval Office meeting, Trump pushed for a cease-fire and peace deal with Russia, while Zelenskyy questioned his diplomatic efforts, arguing that Russian President Vladimir Putin could not be trusted to uphold any agreement. Zelenskyy insisted on explicit security guarantees, which Trump rejected, stating that a strong U.S. presence in Ukraine’s mineral sector would provide sufficient deterrence from future Russian aggression. After the talks broke down, Zelenskyy was asked to leave the White House without signing the agreement.
In a Monday appearance on Fox News, Waltz underscored the limits of U.S. support for Ukraine, citing financial constraints, dwindling military stockpiles, and declining American patience. “The time to talk is now,” he said, calling for a shift away from “this grinding World War I-style trench warfare that is a meat grinder of people, munitions, and national treasure.”
“The president campaigned on ending this war, he was elected to end this war, he will be the peacemaker-in-chief.”
Following the White House meeting, Zelenskyy traveled to London to attend an emergency summit convened by Starmer to consolidate European support for Ukraine amid uncertainty over future U.S. aid. Starmer emphasized the need for Europe to take on a larger role in Ukraine’s defense, proposing a “coalition of the willing” to provide security guarantees and ensure any future peace deal holds.
Zelenskyy declared after Sunday’s meeting in London that a deal to end the war in Ukraine “is still very, very far away,” while trying to offer a positive take about the U.S.–Ukraine relationship in the aftermath of his fraught meeting in the Oval Office on Friday.
“I think our relationship [with the United States] will continue, because it’s more than an occasional relationship,” Zelenskyy said, referring to Washington’s support during the past three years of war.
Meanwhile, Secretary of State Marco Rubio echoed Waltz’s position, reaffirming the administration’s commitment to brokering a peace deal in a call with British Foreign Secretary David Lammy. According to a readout of the call, Rubio praised Britain’s leadership in encouraging Europe to bolster its own defense and expressed U.S. readiness to negotiate an end to the war.
During a Sundayinterviewon ABC, Rubio said that the strategy is to bring Putin and the Russians to the negotiating table and that anything that disrupts that is counterproductive to efforts to secure a peace deal.
“These security guarantees—which I actually like to call deterrence—is all contingent upon there being a peace,” Rubio said. “Everybody is saying security guarantees to secure the peace. You first have to have a peace. We don’t even know if the peace is possible.”
“The question now is, ‘Can we get them to a table to negotiate?’” Rubio continued. “That’s our goal. Don’t do anything to disrupt that. And that’s what Zelenskyy did, unfortunately, is he found every opportunity to try to Ukraine-splain on every issue.”
The Trump administration’s push for a peace deal aligns with the president’s call for Europe to shoulder more responsibility and boost its military spending to secure its territory.