Dr. David Bennett argues that in the wake of the failure of the Putin-Trump Alaska Summit that European NATO troops need to be defensively deployed quickly to western Ukraine.
The August 2025 Alaska Summit between) Presidents Trump and Putin was destined to fail because no pressure was placed on the Russian dictator to end his war against Ukraine. Therefore, the Russians will continue their war against the Ukrainian people until they have fully conquered Ukraine. Even though the Russian Federation’s military progress against Ukraine has been relatively slow, it has still been consistent, and it is likely that a Russian military victory will unfortunately happen unless there is direct European military intervention to prevent it.
Already there are signs that Russia will expand its war of aggression against Ukraine into Central Europe as demonstrated by recent instances of Russian drones being shot down over Poland.
Alas, North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) membership may not necessarily provide the nations of central and eastern Europe with the protection which they expect. This is because either the extreme Left or the extreme Right in France, which are both pro-Putin, may relatively soon come to power in that nation. There is also the prospect that the hard-right Eurosceptic UK Reform Party could also come to power in Great Britian in the not-too-distant future.
Either one or both of these above-cited developments would render NATO obsolete when it comes to countering any future Russian aggression into Europe after Moscow has subjugated Ukraine. Already, the consequences of the United States pursuing a neo-isolationist foreign policy is apparent because Putin has been emboldened to embark on his war of conquest against Ukraine.
However, American foreign policy under President Trump is often subject to his changing whims. It is clear that President Trump wants Russia to end its war against Ukraine. However, the American president is resolutely opposed to deploying US troops in Ukraine, let alone fighting against the Russians.
Why Time is of the Essence
It is therefore imperative that European NATO nations expeditiously deploy combat troops to western Ukraine to form a defensive barrier to block further Russian military advancement. Such a despatch of European NATO troops would not have to necessarily initially engage in combat as their deployment would be defensive in nature. To reiterate, European NATO troops based in western Europe would only engage in combat should Russian troops cross the defensive line which Brussels will hopefully establish.
There well may be logistical challenges with regard to deploying European forces in Ukraine even just to form a defensive line. Challenges should however be overcome! If NATO Europe cannot defensively deploy in western Ukraine, then what hope will NATO have when it comes to co-ordinating any subsequent Russian aggression in Europe if Ukraine falls? It is therefore not an impossible task to deploy European NATO troops provided that the will is there.
The European will to assist Ukraine has been manifested to date by the provision of weapons and financial support. There has also been a professed willingness by some European nations to deploy NATO forces (‘Re-Assurance Troops’) to Ukraine after a political settlement to the Russo-Ukrainian War has been reached.
Tragically, this European desire to help Ukraine falls short of deploying European NATO troops while the Russo-Ukrainian War is currently under way. President Putin knows this, which is why following his August 2025 Alaska Summit, the Russian dictator stepped up offensive military operations against Ukraine with the distinct prospect of expanding his war of conquest into eastern European nations such as Poland.
There are signs that Poland, Finland and the three Baltic States are co-ordinating in constructing a defensive military barrier against Russia. While this proactive step is to be applauded, it would be strategically flawed and ethically dubious for these five nations to have the perspective that Ukraine can do all the fighting and the dying in order to gain time for them in the meantime build a defensive military barrier.
Furthermore, it should not be forgotten that the Soviet Union in the 1939-1940 Soviet Finnish War still eventually overcame the brilliantly constructed Mannerheim Line. That is not to say that defensive military lines cannot always work, for it often depends on the context. The Mannerheim Line was eventually breached because time was on Stalin’s side as the western allies could not then at that point, save Finland.
However, the prompt defensive deployment of European NATO troops to western Ukraine will provide the only feasible prospect of saving Ukraine – and therefore Central and Eastern Europe- from future Russian conquest because Russia is currently relatively beleaguered. The leaders of European nations need to recognise this time imperative, which means also appreciating that President Trump will not militarily intervene to save Ukraine.
That is not to say that the Americans cannot mediate a political settlement to the Russo-Ukrainian War. For this development to occur, NATO Europe will have to up the ante (as President Putin has done following the Alaska Summit) by defensively deploying troops to western Ukraine. Whether any future European NATO ‘Re-Assurance Troops’ remain in western Ukraine and/or who might replace them, can be determined by an American mediated peace settlement to the Russo-Ukrainian War when and if it ever occurs.