Russia has pushed back against the idea of European peacekeeping troops being deployed to Ukraine, and downplayed chances of a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, in another blow to the chances of a peace deal.
“We view such discussions negatively,” Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters when asked for Moscow’s view on a possible European peacekeeping force as part of any deal to end the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
He said Russia’s desire to prevent NATO countries from having a military presence in Ukraine was one of the initial reasons behind the conflict, which Moscow launched in February 2022.
The security guarantees for Ukraine are “one of the most important topics” in talks over a settlement, Peskov said, adding Moscow would not discuss specifics of what they could look like publicly.
He also stated that the heads of Russian and Ukrainian negotiating teams were “in touch” but no date had been set for future talks.
“Any high-level or top-level contact must be well-prepared in order to be effective,” Peskov told reporters in a briefing call.
