Trump reiterates claim about peacekeepers in Ukraine
US President Donald Trump has said he wants to find a “form of peacekeeping acceptable to everybody,” after the Kremlin contradicted his claim that Russia would accept the deployment of Western troops to Ukraine under a potential 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,” is “completely unacceptable.”
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 claimed that Putin would accept the deployment of Western troops to Ukraine. “He has no problem with it,” he told the press following a 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 Ukraine conflict. However, neither side mentioned any understandings reached at the time Western troops in Ukraine.
Russia would only accept the deployment of foreign troops as part of a UN mandate, Vassily Nebenzia, Moscow’s envoy to the international body, told RIA Novosti earlier this month, adding that any other military contingents would be considered regular combatants.
Several senior European leaders, including Macron and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, have been floating the idea of sending military personnel to Ukraine. The Trump administration has repeatedly ruled out sending US troops, stating that European NATO members should have the primary responsibility for security guarantees for Kiev.
Moscow has warned that it would treat any troops entering Ukraine without Russia’s consent amid the conflict with Kiev as legitimate targets.
