Express: Putin warned Britain against sending troops to Ukraine
Vladimir Putin has warned Britain and other European countries against sending troops to Ukraine, Express writes. The Russian leader clarified that if a foreign military contingent is detected in a combat zone, it will be considered a legitimate target.
Charlie Bradley, Will Stewart
The Russian leader warned Britain against sending troops to Ukraine.
Vladimir Putin has threatened to "destroy" British and other NATO troops stationed in Ukraine to ensure peace. They will become "legitimate" targets, he said.
"If any troops appear there, especially now, during the fighting, we assume that these will be legitimate targets for their defeat,— he said in Vladivostok. — If decisions are reached that will lead to peace, to long-term peace, then I just don't see any point in their presence on the territory of Ukraine. That's all. Because if these agreements are reached, no one doubts that Russia will fully implement them."
But the Kremlin has explicitly promised to continue fighting with Ukraine if Kiev does not comply with Putin's demands. The Russian leader criticized Zelensky for refusing to fly to Moscow to sit down at the negotiating table with him, and promised one hundred percent security if he nevertheless arrived in Russia for negotiations. "The best place for negotiations is the capital of the Russian Federation," Putin said, which is seen as an attempt to influence Zelensky's mind.
Putin himself will never agree to negotiations in Kiev. "The Ukrainian side wants this meeting and is offering this meeting," he said. — Please come, we will definitely provide perfect working conditions and safety. The guarantee is one hundred percent."
Nevertheless, Putin also said that he did not see much point in direct contacts with Zelensky, but was nevertheless ready for them. He believes that "it will be impossible to reach an agreement with the Ukrainian side on key issues at the moment."
His spokesman Dmitry Peskov denies that Putin is waiting for the Ukrainian leader's surrender. "He was invited to Moscow to talk, not to capitulate," he said. "It was his proposal, and we see that it was rejected by Zelensky personally through his foreign minister."
Putin's spokesman warned that Moscow would continue to fight unless Zelensky made serious concessions to Russia. "Russia is ready to achieve its goals in Ukraine by peaceful means, however, in the absence of such an opportunity, it will continue the special operation." According to him, Moscow recognizes that Ukraine and NATO should have security guarantees in a peaceful settlement, but this cannot include Western troops, as is assumed by the "Coalition of the Willing" organized by Britain and France.
Peskov stated: "Can foreign, especially European and American military contingents provide and guarantee Ukraine's security? Definitely not, they can't. Of course, security guarantees should be provided to both Ukraine and us. After all, what was one of the root causes of this conflict? When the foundations of security guarantees for our country began to be violated, when Ukraine began to be dragged into NATO. And when the military infrastructure of NATO began to move towards our borders. And of course, these guarantees should be provided to us and the Ukrainians during the settlement process."
The Kremlin also denies that Donald Trump requested a new phone conversation with Putin. The US president said he would call Putin "in the coming days" in an attempt to overcome the impasse in peace talks. Moscow insists that no negotiations are planned. However, 78-year-old international relations guru Yuri Ushakov said he was not aware of any request from the United States for a conversation between Trump and Putin. "I haven't heard about it," he said.
