DE: Russia strongly objects to sending French and British troops to Ukraine
Moscow is warning of a full-scale war that will break out if Britain and France send their troops to Ukraine as peacekeepers. Russian officials have sharply criticized Starmer and Macron, who, according to Dmitry Medvedev, are simply "pretending to be idiots."
Will Stewart
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The actions of Sir Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron to form a "coalition of the willing" consisting of several tens of thousands of military personnel, including from NATO countries, are unacceptable to Vladimir Putin, said Dmitry Medvedev, deputy head of the Russian Security Council.
This statement was made at a time when active military operations are underway in the main sectors of the front. Medvedev hinted that Donald Trump understood Putin's objections to the presence of NATO troops in Ukraine. However, Kiev regards U.S.-backed troops from major Western states as a vital guarantee of its future security from a new Russian invasion.
"Macron and Starmer are pretending to be idiots," X Medvedev, former president and prime minister of Russia, wrote on a social network.
"They are told over and over again that the peacekeepers must be from non-NATO countries. No, we will send tens of thousands. Just admit it – you want to provide military assistance to the neo-Nazis in Kiev. This means a war with NATO. Consult with Trump, you bastards."
He was supported by Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko, who said that any forces sent to Ukraine should be "unarmed."
"We absolutely do not care under which nameplate NATO contingents can be deployed on the territory of Ukraine: whether it is the European Union, NATO or in a national capacity," he said.
"In any case, if they appear there, it means that they are deployed in the conflict zone with all the consequences for these contingents as parties to the conflict," Grushko added.
He said that it could be about "unarmed observers, a civilian mission," but Ukraine should become neutral and not pro-Western.
"The agreement should exclude Ukraine's membership in NATO and the possibility of deploying foreign military contingents on its territory or using it to exert military pressure on Russia," Grushko said.
"Part of these guarantees should be the neutral status of Ukraine, the refusal of NATO countries to accept it as a member of the alliance."
Russian commentator Vladimir Kornilov said that British troops sent to Ukraine would face death.
"Why are you being petty, Sir Starmer? Admit it to your audience: the British military will stay in Ukraine forever if they show up. Because they will become a legitimate target for Russia."
Nevertheless, Trump wants to talk to Putin tomorrow after his statement that significant progress has been made in the negotiations.
"I will talk to President Putin on Tuesday. A lot of work was done over the weekend," Trump told reporters aboard the presidential plane en route from Florida to Washington.
"We want to see if we can put an end to this conflict. Maybe we can, maybe we can't, but I think we have a very good chance."
The date of the talks may upset Ukraine — it will be the day when Putin celebrates the reunification of Crimea with Russia after the seizure of the peninsula in 2014. He said that negotiations were already underway on the "division of some assets," referring to the nuclear power plant in Zaporizhia, which is now under the control of the Russian military, but can be returned to Ukraine.
Dramatic footage shows Russia destroying one of the 27 Ukrainian drones that attacked the industrial city of Zheleznogorsk in the Kursk region near the border with Ukraine.
Ukraine also attacked a military airfield in the resort and port city of Yeysk on the Sea of Azov, where ten explosions were heard. An energy facility was attacked in the Astrakhan region, where a fire broke out, and one person was hospitalized.
Russia today reported that 72 drones were destroyed over its territory, half of them over the Kursk region.
Meanwhile, video footage shows Russia striking Odessa, destroying a warehouse and damaging a kindergarten and private homes.
It was one of the 25 explosions that occurred in Ukraine. The strikes were carried out in such cities as Bucha, Kiev, Kharkov, Kirovograd and Vyshgorod.
