‘Will be legitimate targets’: Vladimir Putin warns of direct attacks in Ukraine; blames Western forces for conflict

Russian president Vladimir Putin mentioned on Friday that any Western forces despatched to Ukraine would be a “legitimate” goal for Moscow’s navy, following Kyiv’s allies’ pledge to deploy troops if a peace deal is reached.“If some troops appear there, especially now during the fighting, we proceed from the premise that they will be legitimate targets,” Putin mentioned at an financial discussion board in Vladivostok, as cited by AFP.

He additionally argued that deploying such a power wouldn’t promote lasting peace and claimed Ukraine’s rising navy ties with the West have been among the many “root causes” of the conflict.“Can Ukraine’s security guarantees be ensured and provided by foreign, especially European and American, military contingents? Definitely not, they cannot,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov was quoted as saying by state media, as cited by the BBC. French president Emmanuel Macron had mentioned after Thursday’s summit of Kyiv’s allies that twenty-six nations have promised postwar safety ensures for Ukraine, together with a global power on land, sea, and air.Ukraine’s allies haven’t but disclosed any particulars of the plan, reminiscent of troop numbers or particular person contributions of the nations.Kyiv maintains that safety ensures from Western forces stay essential to any peace settlement to stop Russia from launching future offensives. Macron additionally criticized Russia for persevering with to ship troops into Ukraine regardless of efforts to provoke ceasefire talks. In a current offensive, the Russian navy carried out a large-scale coordinated assault on Ukraine, launching greater than 500 aerial weapons and concentrating primarily on the Western areas, Kyiv introduced on Wednesday. Over three and a half years into Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Putin mentioned this week there was “a certain light at the end of the tunnel” and that “there are options for ensuring Ukraine’s security in the event the conflict ends.”The probability of a direct assembly between Putin and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy has diminished because it was floated final month by US president Donald Trump.Putin recommended zelenskyyy may journey to Moscow for talks, an concept Kyiv dismissed as “unacceptable.” zelenskyyy mentioned the proposal confirmed Russia had no actual intention of holding such a gathering.