Russian President Vladimir Putin warned Friday that any Western forces deployed to Ukraine would be considered a “legitimate” target for Moscow’s military, a day after Kyiv’s allies pledged to maintain a troop presence should a peace deal be reached.
On Thursday, two dozen countries, led by France and Britain, committed to providing a “reassurance” force on land, at sea and in the air to monitor and enforce any agreement aimed at ending the conflict that Russia ignited in February 2022.
The war has killed tens of thousands, displaced millions, and devastated much of eastern and southern Ukraine, marking Europe’s bloodiest conflict since World War II.
Kyiv insists that security guarantees backed by Western forces are essential to any deal to prevent Russia from resuming hostilities in the future.
“If some troops appear there, especially now during the fighting, we proceed from the premise that they will be legitimate targets,” Putin said at an economic forum in the far-eastern city of Vladivostok.
