Russia has drawn a firm red line against the prospect of foreign forces setting foot in Ukraine under any future peace deal, dismissing European Union proposals for a post-conflict security mission as both unacceptable and destabilizing, reported by Al Jazeera News.
Speaking Wednesday at the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova warned that Moscow would not discuss “in any form, in any format” the idea of deploying an international security force on Ukrainian soil.
“Russia is not going to discuss the fundamentally unacceptable and security-undermining foreign intervention in Ukraine,” she told reporters, adding that European leaders should take Russia’s position as a clear signal.
Her remarks followed European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s disclosure to the Financial Times that the EU has “pretty precise plans” for a multinational force, should an agreement to end the war eventually be signed.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European leaders are due to meet in Paris on Thursday, with French President Emmanuel Macron saying that Europe is prepared to offer security guarantees “the day that a peace accord is signed.” Macron stressed that the details remain “extremely confidential.”
For now, Moscow and Kyiv remain entrenched in their positions. Russia insists that any peace settlement must recognize its claim over four Ukrainian regions annexed since 2022. Kyiv, for its part, has ruled out surrendering territory.
Meanwhile, U.S. President Donald Trump, who has pledged to end the war swiftly, is expected to speak with Zelenskyy by phone Thursday and has signaled plans to hold talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the coming days.
With Europe floating blueprints for the day after war, and Moscow shutting the door on foreign troops, the gulf between visions of peace remains as wide as ever.
