- US Vice President JD Vance proposes Indian troops for Ukraine peacekeeping role
- President Trump rejects idea, says "The Indians won't do that"
- In his election campaign Trump promises swift resolution to Russia's war on Ukraine
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 by The New York Times journalists Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan, says Trump met Vance and top officials met in the Oval Office on January 30, 10 days after he 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's plan - 'Trump's Historic Peace Deal' - called for British, French, and Dutch peacekeeping troops.
But Vance objected to the use of NATO member troops. He said it could provoke Russia, which had voiced distrust of the bloc. In fact, a week earlier Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said NATO troops 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. Trump chuckled, the book said. "The Indians won't do that… won't pay for something like that," he said, and spoke of 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."
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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, having worked with the United Nations in South Sudan, Somalia, and Lebanon, over the past decade, as well as other conflict-affected countries.
