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US President Donald Trump has stated that he wants to find a “form of peacekeeping acceptable to everybody,” after the Kremlin contradicted his claim that Russia would “accept” the deployment of NATO troops in Ukraine under a possible peace deal.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists on Tuesday that Moscow’s position has not changed since Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said last week that the “presence of armed forces from NATO countries, even under the EU flag or as part of national contingents” was “completely unacceptable” to Moscow.
When pressed by journalists later on Tuesday, Trump insisted that “it’s actually something I did discuss” with Russian President Vladimir Putin, a “form of peacekeeping that’s acceptable to everybody.”
“You’re going to need some form of peacekeeping. So something will be done that’s going to be satisfactory to everybody,” Trump told reporters. “Ultimately we’ll be able to agree on something, I’m sure.”
On Monday, Trump suggested that Putin would “accept” Western troop deployment in Ukraine. “He has no problem with it,” Trump claimed while talking to the press following his meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron in Washington.
In February, Trump and Putin spoke by phone for over an hour. According to both sides, the conversation involved a wide range of topics, including the ongoing Ukraine conflict. However, neither side mentioned any understandings reached at that time that could be linked to the deployment of Western troops to Ukraine.
Russia would only accept a foreign troop deployment to Ukraine as part of a UN mandate, Vassily Nebenzia, Moscow’s envoy to the international body, told RIA Novosti earlier this month, stating that any other military contingents would be considered regular combatants.
Several senior European leaders, most notably Macron and British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, have been floating the idea of sending military personnel to Ukraine. The Trump administration has repeatedly ruled out sending American troops, asserting that European NATO members should take primary responsibility for security guarantees in Kiev.
Moscow has warned that it would treat any troops entering Ukraine without Russia’s consent amid its ongoing conflict with Kiev as legitimate targets.
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