Moscow (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – The Kremlin said that promises made by the leaders of Europe at a London summit on Ukraine over the weekend to raise funding to Ukraine will not support bringing about a peaceful resolution to the dispute.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy talked with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and other Western heads, where they consented to draw up a Ukraine peace program to present to the United States two days after Zelenskiy disagreed with President Donald Trump at the White House.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated the results of the meeting – including a $2 billion air-defence missiles deal from the UK – will authorise hostilities to continue, saying it was critical that Zelenskiy be forced to reverse his position and pursue peace.
How is Moscow concerned about European troops in Ukraine?
A few weeks ago, the Kremlin stated that any agenda to send European troops to Ukraine as part of a potential peacekeeping assignment would be unfit for Russia and that it was watching such recommendations with concern.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov expressed the reported proposal was improper because it would engaged military from NATO member nations and thus have outcomes for Russia’s defence.
“This causes concern for us, because we’re talking about sending military contingents – about the possible, eventual sending of military contingents from NATO countries to Ukraine,”
Peskov briefed to reporters in a daily briefing.
“This takes on a completely different meaning from the point of view of our security”,
He stated. “We’re monitoring this very closely.”
Moscow has consistently opposed having NATO troops on the ground in Ukraine, and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said that Russia would view that as a “direct threat” to Russia’s sovereignty, even if the troops operated there under another flag.
In negotiations with the United States in Riyadh, Moscow insisted that NATO abandon its 2008 promise to eventually offer Ukraine membership of the U.S.-led alliance and ignored the possibility of NATO member soldiers being keepers of the peace under a ceasefire agreement.
