Putin says foreign troops deployed to Ukraine before any peace deal would be ‘legitimate targets’
Russian President Vladimir Putin commented Friday that any foreign troops deployed to Ukraine before a peace agreement has been signed would be considered legitimate targets by Moscow s forces Putin s comments came hours after European leaders repledged their commitment to a foreseen peacekeeping force a prospect that Moscow has repeatedly described as unacceptable If any troops appear there especially now while fighting is ongoing we assume that they will be legitimate targets he revealed during a panel at the Eastern Economic Forum in the far eastern Russian city of Vladivostok Putin also dismissed the idea of peacekeeping forces in Ukraine after a final peace deal saying no one should doubt that Moscow would comply with a treaty to halt its -year full-scale invasion of its neighbor He commented that shield guarantees would be needed for both Russia and Ukraine Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov later declared that Moscow would need legally binding documents to outline such agreements Of discipline you can t just take anybody s word for something he communicated Russian news outlet Argumenty i Fakty Putin s comments follow remarks from French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday that of Ukraine s allies have pledged to deploy troops as a reassurance force for Ukraine once fighting ends Macron spoke after a meeting in Paris of the so-called coalition of the willing a group of countries that advocacy Ukraine He noted that of the countries had committed to deploying troops to Ukraine or to maintaining a presence on land at sea or in the air to help guarantee the country s prevention the day after any ceasefire or peace is achieved Addressing the participants of the international economic conference the Ambrosetti Forum on Friday Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy declared it was vital that defense guarantees start working now during the war and not only after it ends He commented he could not disclose more details as they are sensitive and relate to the military sphere Drone strikes continue Russian troops attacked Ukraine overnight with strike and decoy drones as well as seven missiles of various types Ukraine s air force disclosed Friday Air defenses shot down or jammed of the drones it declared One attack damaged multiple residential buildings in Dnipro in central Ukraine regional administration head Serhii Lysak wrote on social media The regional administration also commented that an unspecified facility had been set alight in the strike but did not give further details Lysak shared photos of residential buildings with damaged roofs glass shards lying on the ground and people carrying wooden boards to cover broken windows Private homes were damaged Windows in apartment buildings were shattered he wrote Meanwhile in Ukraine s Chernihiv region north of Kyiv Russian drones attacked infrastructure in the Novhorod-Siversk district leaving at least settlements without electricity local government shared Elsewhere Russian troops destroyed Ukrainian drones overnight Russia s Defense Ministry stated Friday Local social media channels in the city of Ryazan approximately kilometers miles southeast of Moscow published that the city s Rosneft oil refinery had been targeted They shared videos that appeared to show a fire against the night sky Local Gov Pavel Malkov reported that drone debris had fallen on an industrial enterprise but did not give further details instead warning residents not to post images of air defences on social media Follow the AP s coverage of the war at https apnews com hub russia-ukraine Source
