Donald Trump shot down JD Vance’s proposal to send Indian troops as peacekeepers to Ukraine, new book claims | Today’s news
US Vice President JD Vance has proposed sending Indian troops to Ukraine as peacekeepers in the war-torn country, just days after Donald Trump takes office for a second term in January 2025. The explosive revelation was made by Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan, two New York Times journalists in their new book titled Regime Change: Inside the Imperial President Donald Trump.
Indian peacekeepers in Ukraine?
According to the authors, Vance made the suggestion during an Oval Office meeting on Jan. 30 where senior administration officials were discussing options for a peace deal to end the Russia-Ukraine conflict. The book claimed that Vance suggested using non-European peacekeeping troops to avoid the risk of using NATO troops.
When Vance specifically suggested India or Saudi Arabia, Donald Trump laughed and dismissed the idea, saying, “Indians won’t do it. They won’t pay for something like that.”
According to the authors, Trump claimed to have a good relationship with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, but noted that “Indians never pay for anything” regarding troop deployments.
Meeting to end the Russian-Ukrainian war
Providing more details, Haberman and Swan said the meeting also included Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, then-National Security Adviser Mike Waltz and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, along with Keith Kellogg, whom Trump has appointed as the president’s special envoy for Ukraine and Russia.
During the meeting, Kellogg, a retired Army lieutenant general, presented a proposal titled “America First Plan: Trump’s Historic Peace Deal for the Russo-Ukraine War,” in which he proposed that the U.S. not formally recognize Russia’s claims to the occupied territory, but added that Ukraine would not attempt to retake lost territory through military action.
The proposal also called for the deployment of peacekeeping troops from France, Britain and the Netherlands in Ukraine. At this point, the book noted that Vance opposed the deployment of NATO troops to Ukraine, arguing that it would anger Russia.
In discussing non-European alternatives for peacekeeping deployments in Ukraine, Vance suggested Saudi Arabia and India.
“Vance suggested Saudi Arabia or India. Trump laughed,” the book says.
According to the book, Trump responded by saying, “Indians won’t do that. They won’t pay for something like that.”
