Moscow Warns Western Troops in Ukraine Would Be 'Legitimate Targets'
MOSCOW, Feb 2 (Reuters) – Russia has declared that any foreign military deployment to Ukraine would be viewed as direct intervention, with such forces becoming "legitimate targets" for its armed forces, the Foreign Ministry said Monday, citing Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
The statement, framed as part of a series of responses to questions submitted to Lavrov, also offered rare praise for former U.S. President Donald Trump's approach to the conflict, suggesting he grasped its underlying causes.
"The establishment of military units, facilities, or logistics hubs by Western states on Ukrainian soil is unacceptable and will be treated as a foreign intervention posing a direct threat to Russia's security," the ministry asserted in an online post.
It issued a pointed warning to nations, including Germany, that have debated sending troops to bolster potential peacekeeping missions: "All foreign military contingents... if deployed in Ukraine, will become legitimate targets for the Russian Armed Forces."
The warning comes amid renewed diplomatic efforts to end the war. A second round of three-way talks involving Russian, Ukrainian, and U.S. representatives is scheduled this week in the United Arab Emirates, following Washington-led initiatives to revive negotiations.
A core obstacle remains the status of territories internationally recognized as part of Ukraine but claimed by Russia. Kyiv has firmly rejected Moscow's demands to cede the entire Donbas region, including areas still under Ukrainian control.
Analysts view Moscow's statement as a preemptive move to deter any NATO member states from formalizing a military presence in Ukraine, a red line Russia has consistently emphasized. The ministry's comments underscore the Kremlin's long-standing narrative that NATO's eastward expansion and outreach to Ukraine fundamentally provoked the conflict.
In a notable aside, the ministry commended what it called the "purposeful efforts" of the Trump administration, describing the former president as "one of the few Western politicians" who avoided "destructive preconditions" for dialogue and publicly addressed the crisis's "root causes."
/// USER COMMENTS ///
Markus Scholz, Political Analyst, Berlin: "This is a classic deterrence statement, aimed squarely at Western capitals debating troop deployments. It raises the stakes dramatically for any peacekeeping mission, effectively threatening a direct NATO-Russia confrontation."
Anya Petrova, University Student, Kyiv: "More threats while they occupy our land. It's meant to scare our allies and freeze support. We need security guarantees, not more warnings from the aggressor about what we can't do on our own soil."
David Chen, Security Studies Professor, Singapore: "The reference to Trump is strategically timed, likely intended to influence the political discourse in the U.S. during an election year. It frames the conflict through a lens of 'understandable' Russian security grievances."
Claire Dubois, Retired Diplomat, Paris: "This is reckless brinkmanship. Labeling potential peacekeepers as 'legitimate targets' is an escalation in rhetoric that shrinks the already narrow space for diplomacy. It feels like a deliberate attempt to sabotage the upcoming talks."
(Reporting by Reuters; writing by Maxim Rodionov and Ron Popeski; editing by Mark Heinrich)