Putin doesn't want to hear about European soldiers in Ukraine

MoscowRussia has made it clear on land, sea and air that it wants no part of foreign troops on Ukrainian territory. Although Donald Trump assured Emmanuel Macron that it was a matter of

In recent days, Volodymyr Zelensky's insistence on asking for peace guarantees and a European response in the form of a military force to ensure a future ceasefire has received a lot of criticism. The Kremlin immediately came out to deny the Kremlin's refusal to deploy Western soldiers on Ukrainian soil. The Kremlin immediately came out to deny the Kremlin's refusal to deploy Western soldiers on Ukrainian soil. The Kremlin immediately came out to deny the Kremlin's refusal to deploy Western soldiers on Ukrainian soil. The Kremlin immediately came out to deny the Kremlin's refusal to deploy Western soldiers on Ukrainian soil. No Moscow's impassive but forceful response was repeated by Sergei Lavrov, the foreign minister, colloquially known as "Doctor No" for his habit of categorically rejecting Western initiatives. "It would be nothing more than an incitement by the Kiev regime to a war against us," Lavrov said, adding that "no one" had asked them about this possibility. For the minister, this is an "unacceptable" idea that would only fuel the conflict and interrupt any dialogue. In his opinion, this way "the fundamental causes" that generated the war would not be addressed, namely, "the attempt to drag Ukraine into NATO."

Russia has always argued that one of the reasons for invading Ukraine had been the neighbouring country's desire to join the Atlantic Alliance. Fear of NATO expansion eastwards has been a recurring argument of Russian foreign policy since the 1990s, with Western countries promising not to extend their sphere of influence. In the specific case of Ukraine, Putin's complaints date back to 2008. At the NATO summit in Bucharest, with the Russian president as a guest, a very vague commitment was made to eventually allow Ukraine and Georgia to join the alliance without setting a date. This unnerved the Kremlin leader, who described it as a "direct threat" to his security. He also made a private comment to George W. Bush on that occasion that would foreshadow the aggression that no one then suspected: "Ukraine is not even a country." Only a few months later, Russian forces seized the Georgian regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia and established puppet regimes.

In 2014, Putin again used the argument of proximity to NATO borders to justify the annexation of Crimea after the Maidan revolt"When the infrastructure of a military bloc is moving towards our borders, it raises some concerns and questions for us," the Russian president explained, adding: "If we do nothing, at some point the Atlantic Alliance will drag Ukraine along and say that it has nothing to do with us." The historical dimension of the sacrilege that, in his opinion, this situation would have entailed is summed up in the following statement: "NATO ships would have docked in the city of glory of the Russian navy, Sevastopol."

More drums of war

Russian military experts also rule out the possibility that the Kremlin will eventually accept the presence of foreign troops on Ukrainian territory, even in exchange for concessions. Dmitry Trenin, a member of the Russian Council on Foreign and Defence Policy, believes that sending European troops without an agreement would lead to "a direct and immediate military conflict" with Russia and hopes that Western leaders "will take this into account before it is too late."

Despite the peace rhetoric of Russian leaders, the drums of war continue to beat and many analysts already point to a probable confrontation with the European Union in the not-too-distant future. In the official press, another military expert, Igor Korotchenko, points out that "the Russian armed forces must be prepared for a possible military conflict with NATO in Europe in the next decade," while General Anatoly Kulikov, former Minister of the Interior, makes this prediction for when peace is achieved.

The question is whether, despite the apparent intransigence, Moscow will be forced to give in on this or other points if negotiations are reached. One of the options on the table is that the troops deployed in Ukraine will not be European. Turkey, which has the second largest army in NATO and which has hosted the second round of contacts, has already offered its soldiers in Russia and the Kremlin has not been so forceful in rejecting them. It limited itself to saying that "it is not a priority." Donald Trump also suggested that the contingent could be made up of Brazilian or Chinese soldiers, but, for now, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has ruled this out, while no one from China has spoken out there.

Unlike Trump, who says what he thinks and usually does what he thinks, the Russian president uses words as just another commodity. We will soon know if the radical refusal to accept foreign troops in Ukraine was non-negotiable or was also for sale.