New Delhi:
Indian forces could have been part of a “peacekeeping” mission in Ukraine. US Vice President JD Vance made this proposal in January last year – as part of a broader push to enforce a ceasefire with Russia – but it was turned down by President Donald Trump, according to a new book.
“Regime Change: Inside the Imperial Presidency of Donald Trump”, written by The New York Times journalists Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan, says Trump, Vance, and other White House officials met in the Oval Office on January 30, 10 days after the president was sworn in.
Trump won a second term in part because he promised a swift end to Russia’s war on Ukraine; on two occasions he said “I’ll have it solved within one day” and “…within 24 hours that war will be settled”. The meeting – also attended by Lieutenant General Keith Kellogg (retd), the special envoy for Russia and Ukraine – was to decide the US’ role in ending the war.
Kellogg presented the “America First Plan: Trump’s Historic Peace Deal for Russia-Ukraine War” and called for the UK, France, and the Netherlands to send peacekeeping missions.
Vance, however, objected to the use of NATO member troops, arguing it could provoke Russia, which has repeatedly voiced distrust of the bloc. A week before that White House meeting Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov had said categorically that NATO troops in Ukraine would be “completely unacceptable”.
According to Haberman and Swan, Vance then asked: “Are there troops from other countries (i.e., outside Europe) that could serve this purpose?” And Vance then reportedly suggested India and Saudi Arabia.
Trump chuckled, the book said. “The Indians won’t do that… won’t pay for something like that,” he said, and segueing into a remark about his friendship with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
For its part, the Indian government has maintained a consistent position on the war in Ukraine, calling for a complete end to the fighting and a peaceful dialogue to resolve all issues.
In February 2025 PM Modi and President Trump met in Washington, D.C. This was days after the White House meeting detailed in the book. The Foreign Ministry reiterated remarks by the Prime Minister: “… there is no solution for any conflict on the battlefield… this is not an era of war.”
The question of sending peacekeeping forces was never formally addressed by the Indian government, though two months later Congress MP Shashi Tharoor brought up the subject.
In April he suggested Delhi could send a small force if and when the ceasefire promised by Trump were to be announced. “Look beyond Europe for your peacekeeping… this is where India could come in,” he said at a private event in Delhi.
The Indian military frequently serves in peacekeeping roles. In fact, it has extensive experience in that capacity, having worked with the United Nations in South Sudan, Somalia, and Lebanon, over the past decade, as well as many other conflict-affected countries in Africa and Asia.
