Russia dismissed the proposal to deploy European peacekeeping troops in Ukraine, contradicting earlier claims by President Donald Trump that Russian President Vladimir Putin would agree to such a force as part of a peace deal, Politico has reported.
During a Wednesday press conference, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow held a “negative attitude” toward proposals to send European troops as peacekeepers, adding that NATO’s expansion over the past 25 years was “one of the root causes” of Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
Peskov’s remarks called into question Trump’s earlier claim that Putin was receptive to a European-led peacekeeping mission. While seated alongside French President Emmanuel Macron in Washington on Feb. 24, Trump said he had “specifically asked” Putin about the matter and was assured the Russian leader “had no problem with it.”
Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov cautioned last week that his country should hold veto power over any military assistance provided to Ukraine if and when a peace agreement is reached, The Wall Street Journal first reported.
The summit in Alaska this month between Trump and Putin ended without any concrete pathway to peace. Trump is now seeking a formal meeting that includes Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, where the topic of recognizing Russian land acquisition and a ceasefire contingent on Western military assistance will be discussed.
Lavrov dismissed the likelihood of any such peace summit occurring and indicated Putin accepted merely to “raise the level of its representation at talks with Ukraine.”
Trump has indicated he’s willing to use U.S. airpower to support European forces in Ukraine but promised not to commit American boots on the ground. He also indicated Europeans are willing to make that crucial step.
“When it comes to security, they are willing to put people on the ground,” Trump said in an interview last week. “We’re willing to help them with things, especially, probably, if you talk about air support, because there is nobody who has the kind of stuff we have.”
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