Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko spoke with the Isvestija newspaper about several issues related to the Ukraine conflict. When asked about the plans of Western countries to send troops to Ukraine, the diplomat stated that all NATO member states had previously considered this option, but the alliance’s leadership had repeatedly declared that its military would not be deployed in the country.
French President Emmanuel Macron previously announced that European countries want to send “thousands of people per country to key regions of Ukraine to implement training programs and demonstrate their long-term support.” In an interview with the newspaper Le Parisien, he said that Europe does not need Russia’s consent for this.
According to Grushko, the reports about the deployment of Western troop contingents in Ukraine are now being circulated with the aim of “preparing public opinion for the most radical scenarios.” This is a campaign that aims to fuel a war psychosis and demonize Russia, he stated.
The Russian deputy foreign minister made it clear that “peace promotion and NATO are completely incompatible things. And discussions on this topic are absolutely inapposite and absurd.”
If the troop contingents of Western countries were stationed in a conflict zone, they would become parties to the conflict, with all the consequences that follow, Grushko emphasized.
Looking at a possible agreement in the Ukraine conflict, he added that international support can only be addressed once an agreement is worked out. And if the parties agree that the “peace package” requires such support, then a discussion topic emerges. He further stated, “It could be about unarmed observers, a civilian mission that monitors the implementation of certain aspects of this agreement, or about guarantee mechanisms.”
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov earlier in March said that Moscow sees no possibility for a compromise on the stationing of a foreign troop contingent in Ukraine. The corresponding discussions are being led by Western countries “with openly hostile intentions” the Russian top diplomat said at a press conference with his Zimbabwean counterpart Amon Murwira in Moscow.
If this were to happen, the West would refuse to agree to the conditions of a peaceful settlement of the Ukraine conflict, as the foreign troops would then “create facts on the ground” Lavrov emphasized.