Speaking at a seminar last week, Foreign Minister Lavrov reiterated that any foreign forces fighting with the Kiev army in the conflict area will be considered by the Russian army as a legitimate target.
According to Mr. Lavrov, this move by the West is only to delay serious negotiations, which have many opportunities to resolve the root cause of the conflict.
The Russian Foreign Minister especially emphasized that US President Donald Trump's mediation efforts, which have faced many challenges due to Europe's massive "pumping of weapons" to Kiev, are now further hindered by the intention to deploy troops in Ukraine in the post-conflict period.
If a part of Ukraine becomes a place to deploy peacekeeping forces and is subject to Western security guarantees against Russia, that would have only been the West occupying that area, Lavrov added.
Observers say that Russia's consideration of European soldiers in Ukraine as an occupying power has put an end to the idea of deploying peacekeeping forces.
Once labeled as "taken over", the plan will face a strong reaction from Moscow, leading to the risk of direct confrontation between the Russian army and Western forces on the ground.
In the context of the still-tight war, such a risk of collision makes the implementation plan almost impossible.
Instead of contributing to stabilizing the situation and facilitating negotiations, the presence of European soldiers in Ukraine could become a new fuel, pushing peace away from reality and making the prospect of ending the conflict increasingly blurred.
