Putin says any Western troops in Ukraine would be fair targets
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
Russian President Vladimir Putin delivering a speech during a plenary session of Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok on Sept 5.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Follow topic:
VLADIVOSTOK - Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Sept 5 that any Western troops deployed to Ukraine would be legitimate targets for Moscow to attack, in a warning to Kyiv’s allies as they discuss measures for its future protection.
He was speaking a day after French President Emmanuel Macron said 26 countries had pledged to provide post-war security guarantees
Russia has long argued that one of its reasons for going to war in Ukraine was to prevent Nato from admitting Kyiv as a member and placing its forces in Ukraine.
“Therefore, if some troops appear there, especially now, during military operations, we proceed from the fact that these will be legitimate targets for destruction,” Mr Putin told an economic forum in Vladivostok.
“And if decisions are reached that lead to peace, to long-term peace, then I simply do not see any sense in their presence on the territory of Ukraine, full stop.”
His comments highlighted the gulf between Moscow’s position and that of Kyiv and its Western allies on the shape of future security guarantees for Ukraine under any agreement to end the 3½-year war
Ukraine seeks robust backing from the West to protect it in any future attack.
France and Britain, which co-chair a “coalition of the willing” in support of Ukraine, have signalled that they are open to deploying troops to Ukraine after the war ends.
US President Donald Trump has said that Washington will not put troops on the ground, but may provide support such as air power.
Mr Putin said security guarantees must be set in place for both Russia and Ukraine.
“I repeat once again, of course, Russia will implement these agreements. But, in any case, no one has discussed this with us at a serious level yet,” he said.
Mr Trump, who took office in January with a pledge to end the war quickly, hosted Mr Putin for a summit in Alaska
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Sept 5 that Mr Putin and Mr Trump could meet again in the near future.
“I have no doubt that if the presidents consider it necessary, their meeting can be organised very quickly, just as the meeting in Alaska was quickly organised,” Mr Peskov told Russian news outlet Argumenty i Fakty, adding that working contacts were taking place all the time.
On the other hand, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has long been pushing for a direct meeting with Mr Putin in order to make progress towards ending Europe’s deadliest war in 80 years.
Mr Putin said on Sept 5 that he did not see much point in such a meeting because “it will be practically impossible to reach an agreement with the Ukrainian side on key issues”.
However, he reiterated an offer he made earlier this week to host Mr Zelensky for talks in Moscow.
“I said, I’m ready, please, come, we will definitely provide working conditions and security, a 100 per cent guarantee.
“But if they tell us, ‘We want to meet you but you have to go somewhere else for this meeting’, it seems to me that these are simply excessive requests on us.”
Mr Zelensky, without directly addressing the possibility of Moscow as a venue, said on Sept 5: “We are ready for any kind of meetings, but we don’t feel that Putin is ready to end this war.
“He can speak but it’s just words, and nobody trusts his words.” REUTERS
