Russia says foreign troops in Ukraine 'unacceptable'

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said yesterday that Russia would view the deployment of any foreign troops in Ukraine or the construction of foreign military bases there as unacceptable.

Such activity would mean the direct involvement of foreign countries in a conflict with Russia, Zakharova said, adding that Russia would take what she called appropriate measures if any country attempted to deploy its troops.

Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin's top foreign policy aide said yesterday he had told Washington a 30-day ceasefire proposed by the United States to pause the war in Ukraine would simply give Kyiv's forces a much-needed battlefield respite.

Russia's advances along the front since mid-2024 and US President Donald Trump's attempt to strike a peace deal to end the three-year-old conflict in Ukraine have raised fears that Kyiv, which was backed by the West, could lose the war.

Trump's Middle East special envoy Steve Witkoff arrived in Moscow yesterday for talks. Russian officials said US national security adviser Mike Waltz had provided details on the ceasefire idea on Wednesday and Russia was ready to discuss it.

Trump had said in the White House on Wednesday that he hoped the Kremlin would agree to the US proposal for a 30-day ceasefire that Ukraine said it would support.

Yuri Ushakov, a former ambassador to Washington who speaks for Putin on major foreign policy issues, told Russian media that he had spoken to Waltz on Wednesday to outline Russia's position on the ceasefire.

"I stated our position that this is nothing other than a temporary respite for the Ukrainian military, nothing more," Ushakov said.

"It gives us nothing. It only gives the Ukrainians an opportunity to regroup, gain strength and to continue the same thing," he later added.

Ushakov said Moscow's goal was "a long-term peaceful settlement that takes into account the legitimate interests of our country and our well-known concerns."

Asked if Russia was therefore rejecting the US proposal, Ushakov, who has served alongside Putin in the Kremlin since 2012, said that the president would likely speak to the media and outline Russia's position in more detail.

reuters