Trump’s 800-mile buffer zone in Ukraine peace plan leaves UK security ‘furious’

US President-elect Donald Trump, who has frequently claimed he could resolve the Russia-Ukraine war within his first 24 hours in office, is expected to propose the deployment of European soldiers to establish an 800-mile buffer zone between the Russian and Ukrainian forces.
The US, a major provider of aid and arms to Kyiv, is reportedly planning to supply Ukraine with more weapons to prevent Russia from reigniting the conflict. However, the US would not contribute troops to patrol or enforce the proposed 800-mile buffer zone between Russian and Ukrainian forces.
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“We are not sending American men and women to uphold peace in Ukraine. And we are not paying for it. Get the Poles, Germans, British and French to do it,” a member of Trump’s team said, as reported by The Telegraph.
The Daily Mail reported that earlier, President Zelensky met with European leaders in Budapest at a summit of the European Political Community, where he warned that offering concessions to Russia would be “suicidal” for Europe.
He emphasised that no US troops would be deployed to the warzone, and that the responsibility for enforcing the buffer zone would fall on Britain and other European nations.
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Daily Mail reported that senior UK security sources reacted “furiously” to Donald Trump’s proposal, arguing that it would favor Russia and leave Ukraine vulnerable to territorial division.
Speaking at a security conference in Sochi, Russian President Vladimir Putin mocked NATO’s reliance on US leadership, suggesting that without it, the alliance would no longer dominate its “zone of influence.”
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This view is supported by NATO figures showing that the US currently spends twice as much on defense as all other member nations combined.
Trump’s “America First” strategy, which includes pulling back from Europe’s security structure, could weaken NATO significantly, potentially representing its most serious threat since its founding after World War II.
Since the end of the Second World War, and particularly after the Cold War, the United States has played a central role in shaping the global order, using its military power and influence over global trade and commerce. In his first term, Donald Trump sought to disrupt this established global framework, adopting a more inward-looking, insular, and transactional approach. This shift surprised both U.S. allies and competitors.
For example, Trump questioned the contributions of other NATO members, demanding that they meet their financial obligations. A key feature of his first administration was the significant increase in tariffs and trade restrictions, especially with China.
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In his second term, Trump promises—or threatens—to continue this approach. He plans to use even higher import tariffs as a primary tool to reduce the U.S. trade deficits with countries in the EU and key Asian economies like China and South Korea. Trump has also vowed not to involve the U.S. in new international conflicts and is unlikely to increase support for ongoing ones, such as the war between Russia and Ukraine.