Russia warns Western troop deployment in Ukraine would amount to ‘foreign intervention’

By Burc Eruygur

ISTANBUL (AA) - Russia on Thursday warned that it will consider any possible deployment of Western troops in Ukraine as “foreign intervention.”

Reacting to the signing of a declaration at the latest summit of the “Coalition of the Willing” earlier this week, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said in a statement that the document seeks to continue the “militarization, escalation, and expansion” of the Russia-Ukraine war, which will enter its fifth year next month.

Zakharova warned that the deployment of Western troops, as well as military facilities and other infrastructure, in Ukraine “will be classified as foreign intervention, posing a direct threat to the security of not only Russia but also other European countries.”

“All such units and facilities will be considered legitimate combat targets of the Russian Armed Forces. These warnings have been repeatedly issued at the highest level and remain relevant,” she further said.

The spokesperson went on to reaffirm Russia’s position that the resolution of the ongoing conflict is possible “solely through addressing its root causes,” adding this will be achieved “either through political and diplomatic means.”

Zakharova’s statement came days after UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed a declaration of intent in Paris on the deployment of multinational forces to Ukraine in the event of a peace deal.

The declaration of intent was signed following the conclusion of a "Coalition of the Willing" summit in the French capital, which was also attended by an American delegation, composed of US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.