The Russian Foreign Ministry on Thursday repeated its long-standing objection to troops from NATO countries deploying to Ukrainian territory as part of a potential future peace deal, as Ukraine and its Western backers continue to push the idea.
“The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs warns that the deployment of military units, military facilities, warehouses, and other infrastructure of Western countries on Ukrainian territory will be classified as foreign intervention, posing a direct threat to the security of not only Russia but also other European countries,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.
“All such units and facilities will be considered legitimate combat targets of the Russian Armed Forces,” Zakharova added.
Her statement came after the UK and France signed a “declaration of intent” committing to lead a troop deployment to Ukraine. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the declaration “paves the way for the legal framework, under which British, French and partner forces could operate on Ukrainian soil,” though the document is lacking in details on what the force would actually look like.
The declaration was signed after Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during a gathering of the so-called “coalition of the willing,” referring to the countries willing to send troops to Ukraine. US envoy Steve Witkoff and President Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, also attended the meeting.
While the US hasn’t committed to sending troops, it has signaled its willingness to provide air support and other types of assistance for European troops in Ukraine. Zelensky’s office said in a statement on the coalition of the willing gathering that Ukraine “values the United States’ readiness to support forces tasked with preventing a recurrence of Russian aggression.”
The insistence on a Western troops deployment to Ukraine, the US willingness to provide a “NATO-style” security guarantee for the country, and Zelensky’s refusal to cede any territory to Russia make the chances of a peace deal being reached extremely unlikely.
