The US has agreed to help the European "coalition of the willing" with intelligence and air support, the Financial Times (FT) reports.

A number of European countries are talking about the intention to send their peacekeeping troops to Ukraine after the end of the war, but Russia has repeatedly stated that it will not agree to this plan, the BBC reports.

FT journalists spoke to anonymous European and Ukrainian officials, who said that for the first time the US agreed to provide intelligence data on the situation on the battlefield and aircraft for a possible operation in Ukraine.

Representatives of the "coalition of the willing" had previously stated that any operation in Ukraine would be impossible without US help. However, after the recent meeting between Ukrainian and US [presidents Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Donald Trump, the head of the White House made it clear that Washington is ready to provide guarantees for the security of Ukraine.

But the US continues to oppose sending its troops to Ukraine, and some representatives of the Trump administration, including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, will not want to give Kyiv any security guarantees, fearing that their country will be drawn into the war, FT adds.

The troops of the European “coalition of the willing” can be deployed deep into Ukraine as a third line of defense, and it is this line that the US should help, the FT’s interlocutors noted.

A powerful “shield” of Ukrainian troops trained and armed by NATO countries can be created in front of this line, and a demilitarized zone should emerge on the front line, which may be patrolled by troops of a third country agreed between Ukraine and Russia, the FT notes.