President Donald Trump offered his assurances that U.S. troops would not be sent to Ukraine to defend against Russia, after seeming to leave open the possibility.

In a whispered conversation with French President Emmanuel Macron at a summit with other European leaders on Aug. 18, the U.S. president seemingly shared that he thinks Russian President Vladimir Putin will agree to end the war in Ukraine in order to hand Trump a victory. The comment was picked up via hot mic, Fox News reported.

ABC News’ Stephanie Ramos is joined by the former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, William Taylor, to weigh in on the aftermath of Trump’s meeting with Ukraine and European leaders.

U.S. President Donald Trump says he has called Russian President Vladimir Putin and begun to arrange a meeting between Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, a critical step toward bringing a possible end to Russia's war on Ukraine.

Ukraine and its European allies have been buoyed by Trump's promise during a summit on Monday of security guarantees for Kyiv, but many questions remain unanswered. Officials told Reuters that the Pentagon is carrying out planning exercises on the support Washington could offer beyond providing weapons.