Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned against the deployment of any foreign troops into Ukraine, declaring they would be "legitimate targets," in a blunt warning to Kyiv's Western allies as they look to agree on a "reassurance force."
Putin's comments during an economic forum in the Pacific port city of Vladivostok on September 5 came hours after leaders from a group of around 30 European countries -- along with Canada, Japan, and Australia -- met amid a continued struggle with the idea of deploying peacekeeping troops to Ukraine.
"If any troops appear there, especially now while fighting is ongoing, we assume that they will be legitimate targets," he said.
The leaders of the so-called Coalition of the Willing met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Paris on September 4 to try and hammer out details of post-war security guarantees for Ukraine once a peace agreement is reached with Russia to end the Kremlin's full-scale invasion.
French President Emmanuel Macron, who hosted the September 4 talks, said 26 countries had committed to sending troops "as a reassurance force in Ukraine or to be present on the ground, at sea, or in the air."
"In the coming days, we will finalize American support for these security guarantees. The United States, as I said, was involved in all stages of the process," Macron said.
The United States has yet to commit to a clear post-war role, although most participants regard Washington's participation as crucial to backstopping the allies' efforts.
Speaking on September 4 at a Prague conference hosted by the International Institute for Strategic Studies, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, who attended the Paris meeting via video link, insisted Russia would not have a veto over the deployment of foreign peacekeeping troops.
"Why are we interested in what Russia thinks about troops in Ukraine?" Rutte said. "It's a sovereign country."
"Russia has nothing to do with this," he said. "I think we really have to stop making Putin too powerful."
Michael Carpenter, a former White House national-security adviser and ambassador to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, suggested the Europeans were being naive about Moscow's position.
"While European leaders claim Putin doesn’t get to decide on the deployment of a reassurance force, that is belied by the fact that no country is willing to deploy to Ukraine absent a cease-fire, which of course Russia must agree to," he told RFE/RL.
"The risk is therefore very real that the Coalition of [the] Willing is providing Ukraine with a Potemkin security guarantee that will very much depend on Moscow's acquiescence," he said.
Trump's Frustrations
In Washington, US President Donald Trump has said he's frustrated by the continued fighting despite high-level talks -- and a face-to-face summit with Putin last month.
He's also sought to pressure European leaders to do more to pressure Moscow. And he's criticized European nations for continuing to purchase Russian oil and gas -- either directly or indirectly, through third-party countries like India.
The value of EU imports of Russian fossil fuels totaled 21.9 billion euros ($23.6 billion) this year, according to the Helsinki-based Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air.
In a call with European leaders following the Paris meeting, Trump reportedly pressured them on the issue of Russian oil and gas purchases, according to Reuters.
Asked directly if he planned to speak to Putin in the near future, Trump told reporters: "Yeah, I will." He did not elaborate.
The European Commission has proposed legislation to phase out all EU imports of Russian oil and gas by January 1, 2028.
Hungary and Slovakia, both led by nationalist leaders sympathetic to the Kremlin, however, have continued to import Russian energy products.
The Search For Security Guarantees
Trump has also criticized Zelenskyy for refusing to consider ceding any Ukrainian sovereign territory to Russia as part of a potential peace deal. Zelenskyy has said that would violate Ukraine's constitution.
Speaking at a joint news conference with Macron, Zelenskyy underlined the importance of US involvement in any post-war security guarantees.
"It is important that the United States is with us. We talked with President Trump today. Many thanks for his involvement," Zelenskyy said.
"If Russia continues to refuse concrete peace discussions...we will take additional sanctions in conjunction with the United States of America," Macron said. "This is also what President Trump expressed earlier during this call."
Zelenskyy and Macron also lamented Putin's refusal to meet with the Ukrainian president.
Putin has often labeled Zelenskyy as illegitimate, dismissing the declaration of martial law, which was imposed after Russia's invasion in February 2022, which precludes holding new elections under Ukrainian law.
Putin this week repeated an invitation for Zelenskyy to travel to Moscow to meet in person, an invitation that Zelenskyy has called disingenuous.
"Putin wants to meet with me in Moscow. That means Russia does not want to have a meeting," Zelenskyy said during the September news conference.
Peskov told Interfax on September 5 that there were no plans for talks between Putin and Trump and that the level of Russia's current negotiating is already "quite high," indicating there were no thoughts of upgrading participants to the presidential level.
As the politicians spoke, Russian drones killed at least three people and injured three others late on September 4 in the Kharkiv region in northeastern Ukraine's, regional Governor Oleh Synyehubov said.
Synyehubov wrote on Telegram that two 40-year-old men and a 24-year-old woman were killed by a Russian drone attack. He said the men were killed while working as part of a road construction crew in the village of Khotimlya.
