The Kremlin on Tuesday reiterated its opposition to the presence of European peacekeeping forces in Ukraine as a means of securing a potential ceasefire, following comments by the United States (U.S.) President Donald Trump, who claimed that Russia would accept such a move.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov only referred to the official stance of Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov when asked about the issue. “I have nothing to add to that,” Peskov said, according to Russian media.
On the sidelines of French President Emmanuel Macron’s visit on Monday, Trump was asked whether he would persuade Vladimir Putin to accept European troops as peacekeeping forces.
The U.S. president responded: “Yes, he will accept it.”
Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov called the presence of peacekeeping forces from NATO countries in Ukraine unacceptable, while his deputy, Alexander Grushko, described such a deployment as an escalation of the war that Moscow launched three years ago.
Most European countries are members of the Western defense alliance NATO. Among the more notable exceptions are Austria, Switzerland, and Ireland.
