&imwidth=800&imheight=600&format=webp&quality=medium "‘Legitimate targets’: Putin calls for 'full stop' on plans to put Western troops in Ukraine, warns they will be targeted by Moscow")
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that any Western troops sent to Ukraine would be treated as legitimate targets by Moscow. Speaking at an economic forum in Vladivostok, Putin declared, “Therefore, if some troops appear there, especially now, during military operations, we proceed from the fact that these will be legitimate targets for destruction.” He added that if decisions were taken that secured a long-term peace, then he saw “no sense in their presence on the territory of Ukraine, full stop.”
Also read: Trying to woo Trump? Russia races for rare earths months after US seals Ukraine minerals deal
Macron unveils new security guarantees
The warning came a day after French President Emmanuel Macron announced that 26 countries had pledged to provide Ukraine with postwar security guarantees. The plan, presented after a summit of 35 nations dubbed the “Coalition of the Willing”, included a commitment to an international force operating “by land, sea or air” once a ceasefire is agreed. Macron said US support would be finalised in the coming days.
US President Donald Trump has also suggested that Washington’s role could “probably” involve air support. Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed that he had spoken with Trump about securing “maximum protection for Ukraine’s skies”. But hopes for a peace deal have faded since Putin met Trump in Alaska last month.
Oil and gas in the spotlight
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Trump has urged the European Union to work with the US to block Russian oil and gas imports, describing it as a way to shut down Moscow’s “war machine by economic means”. According to Finnish President Alexander Stubb, Trump made the point in a recent call. EU leaders have already set a target of ending Russian oil and gas purchases by 2027, though Moscow still received more than €1.1bn (£954m; $1.3bn) from fuel sales to the bloc last year.
Western allies face tough choices
Moscow has repeatedly insisted that no Western forces should enter Ukraine and has even demanded a role as a “guarantor” of any future agreement, a proposal rejected by Kyiv and its allies. UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said allies now had an “unbreakable pledge” to Ukraine, backed by the US. He stressed that pressure on Russia to end the war had to continue. Few Western capitals have openly committed to putting troops on the ground, and diplomats warn that doing so could bolster Putin’s narrative of the West provoking the conflict.
Calls for ceasefire first
European leaders, including German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, have said the immediate goal should be a ceasefire before wider peace talks. Zelensky’s top officials also held talks in Paris on Thursday with US special envoy Steve Witkoff to discuss next steps.
