Keir Starmer’s Ukraine peacekeeping plan ‘completely unacceptable’, Russia tells US in Saudi Arabia talks
18 February 2025, 15:54
Deploying armed forces from other countries to Ukraine would be “completely unacceptable”, Moscow told US officials during Saudi Arabia talks in a dig at Keir Starmer’s plan to put boots on the ground.
Listen to this article
Loading audio...
Speaking following talks with top US diplomats in Riyadh, Russian Foreign minister Sergie Lavrov said that "any appearance by armed forces under some other flag does not change anything”, adding that it would “it is of course completely unacceptable".
It comes after Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he was ready and willing to put British boots on the ground as part of a peacekeeping force, a plan met with some opposition from European leaders.
Donald Trump had also refused to rule out sending peacekeeping troops to Ukraine, the US President’s peace envoy said on Monday.
However, Lavrov said the US "now has a better understanding of our position", describing his talks four-hour talks with Trump's delegation on Tuesday as “very useful”.
Lavrov added that officials on both sides agreed to form a process for a settlement, adding "we also agreed to create conditions to restore our cooperation in full".Lavrov reiterated the Kremlin’s previous warnings over a Nato expansion, which he stressed represent a "direct threat" to Russia if Ukraine joins.
On the US side, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he was "convinced" that Moscow was "willing to begin to engage in a serious process", describing today’s meeting as the “the first step of a long and difficult journey" to ending the war in Ukraine.
Meanwhile, Volodymyr Zelenskyy hit out at Russia for being blocked out Saudi Arabia talks held “behind our backs".
Speaking following the meeting the Ukrainian leader said that such negotiations "should not take place” if his officials are excluded.
Zelenskyy has since cancelled a planned trip to Saudi Arabia, which was reportedly unrelated to the Russia-US meeting. It comes after the Kremlin said Russian President Vladimir Putin was ready to enter talks with Kyiv.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Putin has “repeatedly said he is ready to speak about peace” but stressed that Moscow's “wider security issues” need to be addressed first.
“Putin himself said that he would be ready to negotiate with Zelenskyy if necessary but the legal basis of agreements needs discussion considering the reality that Zelenskyy’s legitimacy can be questioned,” he added.
