WASHINGTON — The Kremlin on Tuesday refuted President Trump’s claim that Russian leader Vladimir Putin is ready for European peacekeepers to be installed in Ukraine.
“There is a position on this matter that was expressed by Russian Foreign Minister [Sergey] Lavrov,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said at a press conference. “Russia media site TASS reported. I have nothing to add to this and nothing to comment on.”
Peskov was referring to Lavrov’s recent remarks asserting that Russia would find it unacceptable if NATO-aligned troops were put in Ukraine after a peace deal is negotiated.
“So we explained today, the appearance of armed forces from the same countries, albeit under a foreign flag, under the flag of the European Union or under national flags, does not change anything in this regard,” Lavrov had said at a press conference after meeting with Trump’s delegation in Saudi Arabia last week.
“This is, of course, unacceptable to us,” the diplomat added.
Trump appeared certain Monday that Putin would have “no problem” with peacekeepers in Ukraine.
“Yeah, he will accept that. I’ve asked him that question,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office alongside French President Emmanuel Macron.
“Look, if we do this deal, he’s not looking for more war. He doesn’t mind,” Trump said of Putin and potential peacekeepers. “But I’ve specifically asked him that question. He has no problem with it.”
Macron has been one of the most ardent supporters of installing European peacekeepers in Ukraine to maintain peace once a deal is negotiated. He said he would be willing to send French troops.
French soldiers would “be there to maintain peace, they would not be along the front lines, they would not be part of any conflict,” Macron said in the Oval Office with Trump. “They would be there to ensure that the peace is respected.”
Putin, in an interview after Trump’s meeting with Macron, said he had not discussed the Ukrainian war “in essence” with the president — but would talk about it with him in the future if relations between the US and Russia improve.
Peskov said Tuesday that the US-Russia relationship has a “long way” to go for Moscow to trust Washington.
“In order to say that we trust the Americans, we have to go a long way,” the Kremlin rep said, according to the Russian media site Interfax.
“We need to take many small steps towards each other that will contribute to the emergence and renewal of this atmosphere of trust. Much has suffered, much has been destroyed, so it is, of course, impossible to restore this overnight,” Peskov said.
The US and Russia both agreed to warming relations through diplomatic talks and potentially reinstalling embassies in each others’ countries.
The two countries also have agreed to pursue economic relations once a deal is negotiated.
Trump showed interest Tuesday in securing a deal with Russia on rare-earth minerals upon the end of the war, and the Kremlin responded in kind. The US administration has already put the screws to Ukraine to fork over billions of dollars in minerals to pay for the military aid it’s received from America.
“The Americans need rare earth metals. We have plenty of them, and we have our own plans for developing strategic resources,” Peskov said at the press conference. “This opens up quite broad prospects for cooperation.”
The White House did not respond to an inquiry from The Post on Tuesday.
