Ursula von der Leyen in Kyiv to announce new defence initiatives as Ukraine and Russia exchange strikes – Europe live

Back to Ukraine , Russia said that any multinational force sent by Ukraine’s allies ⁠to deploy there in ⁠the ​event of a peace deal would be unacceptable to Moscow, which would ⁠view it as a threat and a legitimate military target, Reuters reported.

Western allies in the ⁠pro-Ukraine “coalition of the willing” met in Paris this ​week and reaffirmed ‌their intention ‌to deploy such a force after a cessation ‌of hostilities, in order to reassure Ukraine and help it to regenerate its forces.

“In ​this context, we would like to reiterate that the deployment of any military contingents from countries of the so-called ’coalition of the willing’ to ⁠Ukraine is unacceptable to our country ,” Russian foreign ministry ​spokesperson ​ Maria Zakharova told reporters.

“I ​repeat: this would amount, de facto, ​to foreign intervention ‌and an ​escalation ​of threats to Russia’s security. We would regard such units as legitimate military targets.“