Russia Is Not Willing To Accept Peace Forces From Europe In Ukraine

JAKARTA - Russia insists it cannot accept the presence of "peacekeeping forces" from European countries in Ukrainian territory, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

"No, we can't," Peskov told ABC News when asked if Russia was willing to accept European peacekeeping forces in Ukraine.

According to Peskov, Ukraine is actually trying to avoid the peace negotiations process, while Russia has affirmed its readiness to hold dialogues.

Peskov also said that United States President Donald Trump had "a major influence on Ukraine" and Moscow hoped Trump could encourage Kiev to be more open to negotiations.

On March 13, media reported that French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer were trying to persuade 37 countries to form a coalition called the Voluntary Coalition (Coalition of the Willing), which aims to send peacekeepers to Ukraine and provide security guarantees to Kiev.

At the summit of the Coalition in Paris on March 27, Macron stated that a number of countries plan to send "deterrence forces" to Ukraine.

Macron insists that the French-UK initiative will neither replace the Ukrainian army nor act as a peacekeeping force.

Their main purpose in their presence is to contain Russia and will be placed in strategic locations that have been agreed upon with the Ukrainian side.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in March confirmed that the presence of troops from member countries of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in Ukrainian territory, in any form and mission - including as peacekeepers - was a direct threat to Russia.

Moscow, Lavrov said, would not accept it under any circumstances.

The Russian Foreign Intelligence Agency (SVR) last year also revealed that the West is allegedly planning to send a peacekeeping contingent of around 100,000 personnel to Ukraine to restore the country's combat capabilities.

SVR calls the scenario a form of de facto occupation of Ukraine.