Putin warns Ukraine allies, says don’t think of sending troops
06-Sep-2025.
Any foreign troops operating as part of a peacekeeping force in Ukraine would be considered a "legitimate target" by Moscow, warned Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The statement is considered important as it comes a day after French President Emmanuel Macron’s statement that 26 of Ukraine's allies had formally committed to deploying troops "by land, sea or air" to help guarantee Kyiv's security the day after any ceasefire or peace is achieved.
French President Mr Macron had said any troops would be deployed to prevent "any new major aggression" and not at the frontline, adding the force does "not have the will or the objective of waging war against Russia".
Putin quickly poured cold water on the proposals when speaking at an economic forum in Russia's eastern Vladivostok region on September 5.
Russian President Putin responding to Mr Macron's comments said, "If any troops appear there, especially now, during military operations, we proceed from the fact that these will be legitimate targets for their destruction.
"And if decisions are reached that lead to peace, to long-term peace, then I simply do not see any sense in their presence on the territory of Ukraine, full stop."
Russia has long argued that one of its reasons for going to war in Ukraine was to prevent NATO from admitting Kyiv as a member and placing its forces in Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaking today said it was important that security guarantees "start working now, during the war, and not only after it ends".
NATO chief Mark Rutte on September 4, said Russia had no veto on Western troops being deployed to Ukraine: "Why are we interested in what Russia thinks about troops in Ukraine? It's a sovereign country. It's not for them to decide." 'Please come to Moscow'
Mr Putin also addressed the chances of a direct meeting between himself and Mr Zelesnkyy aimed at ending the war.
Such a proposal looked positive after the Russian President US President Trump in Alaska last month, but Mr Putin said on September 5 he did not see much point in such a meeting because "it will be practically impossible to reach an agreement with the Ukrainian side on key issues".
But he reiterated an offer he made earlier this week to host Mr Zelenskyy for talks in Moscow, which Ukraine's defence minister previously declared as "knowingly unacceptable".
Mr Putin said, "I said: 'I'm ready, please, come, we will definitely provide working conditions and security, a 100% guarantee'".
"But if they tell us: 'we want to meet with you, but you have to go somewhere else for this meeting', it seems to me that these are simply excessive requests on us."
Mr Zelenskyy said US mediators had informed him about Mr Putin's invitation, Zelensky said while speaking at a news conference in Paris on Thursday.
"Our American partners told us that Putin invited me to Moscow, and I believe that if you want to avoid a meeting, you should invite me to Moscow," he said.
However, he said the fact that the issue of organising a meeting arose was "not bad".
