The Kremlin warned on Thursday that any European troop deployment to Ukraine under a peacekeeping mission would be unacceptable to Russia and said it was closely monitoring such proposals with concern.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has said he is "ready and willing" to put U.K. troops on the ground in Ukraine, with U.S. backing, as a security guarantee in the event of some sort of a cease-fire deal between Moscow and Kyiv.
Starmer is planning to present a plan to U.S. President Donald Trump to send fewer than 30,000 European servicemen to Ukraine in exchange for American protection of the troops, the Telegraph newspaper reported.
A spokesperson for Starmer's Downing Street office referred Reuters to the British leader's earlier, more general statement when asked about the report.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said the reported proposal was unacceptable because it would involve forces from a NATO member state and therefore have ramifications for Russia's own security.
"This causes concern for us because we're talking about sending military contingents – about the possible, eventual sending of military contingents from NATO countries to Ukraine," Peskov told reporters in a daily briefing.
"This takes on a completely different meaning from the point of view of our security", he said. "We're monitoring this very closely."
Russia has repeatedly said it opposes having NATO troops on the ground in Ukraine, with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov saying this week that Moscow would view that as a "direct threat" to Russia's sovereignty, even if the troops operated there under a different flag.
Amid talks with the United States in Riyadh on Tuesday, Russia demanded NATO scrap its 2008 promise to one day give Ukraine membership of the U.S.-led alliance and dismissed the idea that NATO member forces could be keepers of the peace under a cease-fire deal.
The Kremlin earlier added that it "absolutely" agreed with the U.S. administration after Trump urged his Ukrainian counterpart to "move fast" to end the conflict.
In a scathing post on Wednesday, Trump called Zelenskyy a "dictator" while echoing the Kremlin on several issues linked to the conflict, deepening a rift that has triggered alarm in Europe.
"They (the Trump administration) talk about the need to establish peace as soon as possible and do it through negotiations," Peskov told journalists.
"We have also already mentioned that this position is more favorable to us than the previous administration and that here we absolutely agree with the American administration," he said.
Peskov added that the two sides had agreed to resume dialogue on all issues, including prisoner exchanges.
"It was decided to start resuming Russian-American dialogue on all parameters," Peskov said.
Trump has upended U.S. foreign policy since coming to office last month, calling for support for Ukraine to be dependent on access to its rare minerals while ending his predecessor Joe Biden's policy of isolating Russia.
