Russian President Vladimir Putin warned on Friday that any Western forces deployed to Ukraine would be a “legitimate” target for Moscow’s army, a day after Kyiv’s allies said they had committed to a troop presence in the event of a peace deal.
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Two dozen countries, led by France and Britain, pledged Thursday to join a “reassurance” force on land, at sea and in the air to patrol any agreement to end the conflict, unleashed by Russia in February 2022.
Tens of thousands have been killed in three-and-a-half years of fighting, which has forced millions from their homes and destroyed much of eastern and southern Ukraine in Europe’s bloodiest conflict since World War II.
Kyiv says security guarantees, backed by Western troops, are crucial to any agreement, in order to ensure Russia does not relaunch its offensive 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.
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