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A NATO-like treaty, US air support and doubt over Putin: How yesterday added shape to a potential deal

Competing outlines of potential deals were being formed yesterday, as Trump held interviews and European officials held meetings over the future of a post-war Ukraine.

Donald Trump said American troops will not be sent to Ukraine, but the US may provide air support as part of a peace deal with Russia.

A day after his extraordinary White House meeting with Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the leaders of Kyiv's European allies, the US president told Fox News "when it comes to security, [Europeans] are willing to put people on the ground. We're willing to help them with things, especially, probably, by air".

Trump did not elaborate, but White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters US air support was "an option and a possibility".

She said the US president "has definitively stated US boots will not be on the ground in Ukraine, but we can certainly help in the coordination and perhaps provide other means of security guarantees to our European allies".

Air support could take many forms, including missile defence systems or fighter jets enforcing a no-fly zone - and it's not clear what role the US would play under any proposed peace deal.