Russian dictator Vladimir Putin has rejected Western offers to deploy peacekeeping forces in Ukraine as a security guarantee, and has said that Western soldiers will be targeted, the BBC reports.
French President Emmanuel Macron said after a meeting in Paris that 26 of Ukraine’s allies have formally committed to deploying troops to the war-torn country to help ensure peace after a ceasefire. Macron did not elaborate on which countries could send their troops to Ukraine.
Putin immediately tried to suppress the initiative of Ukraine’s allies, indicating that their soldiers would be a legitimate target, especially if they arrived in Ukraine now. However, Europe has no plans to send troops to Ukraine now.
Hopes for a quick ceasefire have now faded. The meeting on the 15th of August between Putin and US President Donald Trump raised hopes that the Russian dictator might meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, but those hopes were premature. Putin said on the 5th of September that he was ready to contact Zelensky, but that he saw no point in doing so at the moment, as Ukraine’s position on key issues would make it impossible to reach an agreement.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov praised Trump’s constructive approach but
attacked “the outrageous efforts of European countries to provoke continuation of the war.”
Since the US-Russian summit in Alaska, the so-called “Coalition of the Willing” has been working to create security guarantees for Ukraine until a ceasefire is reached. The guarantees include strengthening the Ukrainian army and setting up a peacekeeping force. Macron has stressed that the soldiers’ task would be to prevent new aggression and that they would not go to the front lines. The coalition has neither the desire nor the need to start a war against Russia.
Zelensky called the decisions taken in Paris the first concrete steps. Meanwhile, the United States has not specified its involvement, and the French president indicated that this would happen in the coming days. Trump recently said that the United States could provide support, and Zelensky said that he had spoken with the US leader about protecting Ukrainian airspace.
Kyiv believes that a ceasefire in Ukraine is necessary before a broader peace agreement, but Russia does not agree.
Read also: Trump to order Pentagon to be renamed Department of War
Follow us on Facebook and X!
