Putin: Deployment of foreign troops in Ukraine 'completely unacceptable'

Russian President Vladimir Putin told US special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner at a Kremlin meeting that the deployment of foreign troops on Ukrainian soil was "completely unacceptable" and would amount to a prolongation of the war.

Putin warned that Western plans discussed after a peace deal could quickly lead to foreign forces on Ukrainian territory. "The Europeans know this, but what do we hear? That after peace is concluded, they will immediately deploy troops on Ukrainian territory," he said.

Russian demands and battlefield proposals

He also dismissed the idea of creating demilitarized zones along the front line. Moscow continues to demand recognition of its claims over four Ukrainian regions — Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson — which it declared annexed in 2022, even though it does not have full control over them.

Putin proposed a temporary ceasefire to enable a humanitarian operation in Kostiantynivka in Donetsk region, where heavy fighting is under way.

Witkoff and Kushner urged Russia to let European countries engage in talks about halting the fighting. "If we choose a multilateral format, we can continue to make progress toward solving the problems," Kushner said.

The Kremlin meeting followed two days of direct talks between Russia and Ukraine in Abu Dhabi, where both sides agreed to a new exchange of prisoners of war. Witkoff and Kushner are expected to travel to Dublin next for a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

The encounter in Moscow adds another diplomatic channel to the patchwork of efforts trying to shape a ceasefire, prisoner exchanges and longer-term arrangements — but Putin's categorical rejection of foreign troop deployments underscores a major obstacle to Western security guarantees on Ukrainian soil.

Photo: press material from the event