Putin said any Western troops in Ukraine would be “legitimate targets” for Russian attacks.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday declared that any Western forces deployed to Ukraine would be regarded as legitimate targets for Moscow’s military.
Putin’s warning followed French President Emmanuel Macron’s announcement that 26 countries had pledged to provide postwar security guarantees for Ukraine, including an international force on land, sea, and in the air.
Russia has repeatedly justified its invasion by citing opposition to NATO’s potential expansion into Ukraine.
“Therefore, if some troops appear there, especially now, during military operations, we proceed from the fact that these will be legitimate targets for destruction,” Putin said during the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok.
The Russian leader added that if negotiations resulted in “decisions that lead to peace, to long-term peace, then I simply do not see any sense in their presence on the territory of Ukraine, full stop.”