Russia Condemns Ukraine-European Plan to Form a Peacekeeping Force

Russia on Thursday called Ukraine and its backers in Europe a "axis of evil," warning that the deal they had reached for the deployment of peacekeepers was far from anything Moscow could accept to end the war.

In his first comments after Ukrainian allies said they had agreed to key security guarantees for Kyiv at a summit in Paris, Russia denounced the plan as "militaristic" and appeared to quash hopes it would lead to a swift end to the conflict four years in the making.

Earlier this week, European leaders and the US envoy announced that security guarantees for Kyiv would include a US-led monitoring mechanism and European multinational forces that would be deployed if a ceasefire could be reached.

"All these units and facilities will be considered legitimate military targets for the Russian Armed Forces," Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a statement, launching Al Arabiya from AFP (8/1).

Moscow itself has repeatedly warned it would not accept any NATO member sending peacekeepers to Ukraine, saying they could be targeted by Russian attacks.

"The new militaristic declaration of the so-called Volunteer Coalition and the Kyiv regime together form a real 'axis of war'," Zakharova said, calling the plans drawn up by Kyiv's allies "dangerous" and "destructive".

The declaration, signed in Paris, will see Britain, France and other European allies deploy troops to Ukraine after a potential ceasefire.

However, specific details about the troops and how they will be involved are still missing. Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he had not received a "firm" answer about what they would do if Russia attacked again.

Ukraine also said the most difficult questions in any deal to end the fighting - territorial control of the eastern Donbas region and the fate of the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant - were still unresolved.