The Trump administration is continuing its efforts to get nations across the world to accept third-country deportees. In the latest episode of the saga, the officials reportedly asked the Ukrainian government to accept an unspecified number of U.S. deportees.
According to a new report from The Washington Post, the administration made the request in late-January even though Kyiv lacks a functional airport due to ongoing air strikes from Russia.
The documents reviewed by the outlet do not indicate how officials in Ukraine responded. However, a Ukrainian diplomat informed the U.S. Embassy only that her government would offer a response once it formulated a position, which shows that similar proposals were issued to a number of other countries around the same date. So far, the war-torn country has not seemingly accepted any third-party nationals from the U.S.
There is also no indication that Kyiv seriously considered the proposal. In fact, two Ukrainian officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss interactions with the Trump administration told The Post that the topic never reached the highest level of government. One official added that he was unaware of any "political demands" made by the United States regarding its desire for Ukraine to take in deportees.
The State Department said in a statement that "ongoing engagement with foreign governments" was "vital to deterring illegal and mass migration and securing our borders." The agency referred questions about the Ukraine proposal to the Department of Homeland Security, which did not make any immediate comments.
Ukraine is not the first country being met with such a proposal by the U.S. El Salvador took up the Trump administration on the offer, accepting to house hundreds of deported Venezuelan migrants accused of being gang members in its infamous CECOT mega-prison.
At the same time, Rwanda revealed over the weekend that it was engaging in "early stages" of discussion to make a similar deal with the American government, though no further details have been released yet. And a new report detailed that migrants could also be sent to war-torn Libya soon.
Yeal Schacher, director for the Americas and Europe at the humanitarian organization Refugees International, said it appears the Trump administration is targeting governments "it knows want to curry favor and are under pressure."
Interestingly, the request also comes as tensions between the U.S. and Ukraine have been on the rise since Trump took office. Most notably, at an Oval Office meeting in February between Trump, Vice President JD Vance and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, disdain was evident as the world leaders loudly exchanged loaded comments, with the Vice President asking the Ukrainian leader why he has never said "thank you" to the American government for its aid on the war.
Since then, tensions appeared to calm slightly after Ukraine granted the U.S. access to critical minerals and Trump and Zelensky met at Vatican City during Pope Francis' funeral. However, a new Reuters report claims Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth blocked military aid flights to Ukraine days after Trump took office without the administration knowing, which could have repercussions on the two countries' relationship.
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