Putin says foreign troops in Ukraine would be ‘legitimate targets’
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that any foreign troops deployed to Ukraine before a peace agreement has been signed would be considered “legitimate targets” by Moscow’s forces.
Putin’s comments came hours after European leaders repledged their commitment to a potential peacekeeping force.
“If any troops appear there, especially now while fighting is ongoing, we assume that they will be legitimate targets,” he said during a panel at the Eastern Economic Forum in the far eastern Russian city of Vladivostok.
Putin also dismissed the idea of peacekeeping forces in Ukraine after a final peace deal, saying “no one should doubt” that Moscow would comply with a treaty to halt its three-and-a-half-year full-scale invasion of its neighbor.
Security guarantees
He said that security guarantees would be needed for both Russia and Ukraine.
The Russian leader’s comments follow remarks from French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday that 26 of Ukraine’s allies have pledged to deploy troops as a “reassurance force” for Ukraine once fighting ends.
Macron spoke after a meeting in Paris of the so-called Coalition of the Willing, a group of 35 countries that support Ukraine.
He said that 26 of the countries had committed to deploying troops to Ukraine—or to maintaining a presence on land, at sea or in the air—to help guarantee the country’s security the day after any ceasefire or peace is achieved.
Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, almost eight years after Moscow illegally annexed Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula. Moscow has repeatedly described the presence of Nato troops in Ukraine as part of a peacekeeping force “unacceptable.”
Church ban
Meanwhile, the Ukrainian government has declared that a branch of the Orthodox Church has failed to sever its longstanding ties with Moscow—and could soon be banned.
The looming ban affects one of the two rival branches of Orthodoxy in the country and further underscores the turbulent role of religion as Ukraine fends off the Russian invasion.
The action comes a year after the Ukrainian Parliament passed a law banning the Moscow-based Russian Orthodox Church due to its strong support of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
