Lavrov says Russia won’t accept NATO Troops in Ukraine

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated that Moscow will not accept NATO peacekeeping forces in Ukraine under any peace agreement. “Any appearance by armed forces under some other flag does not change anything. It is, of course, completely unacceptable,” he said after talks with the US in Saudi Arabia.

The meeting marked the first direct negotiations between US and Russian delegations since the full-scale invasion. Both sides agreed to appoint teams for further discussions on ending the war, but Ukraine was notably absent.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky expressed frustration over being excluded, emphasizing that no decisions about Ukraine should be made without Ukraine. Meanwhile, European leaders held urgent talks in Paris, with mixed reactions to potential troop deployments and the evolving US-Russia dialogue.