London – The Russian Ministry of Foreign Relations warned again that Moscow will not accept the presence of Western troops in Ukraine as part of a future peace agreement, such as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy prepared to meet a group of main European leaders in Paris on Thursday.
“Russia does not intend to discuss an unacceptable foreign intervention in Ukraine in any way,” Maria Zakharova spokesman said Thursday in the comments published by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday. “The instigators of the Western war see Ukraine as a test field for their military developments,” he said.
Moscow has repeatedly rejected proposals for Western forces to be deployed in Ukraine in any capacity as part of an agreement to end the large -scale invasion of Russia of its neighbor, which began in February 2022.
However, the perspective is still under discussion by NATO leaders and the Ukrainian government as an element of the security guarantees that Kyiv says they are necessary to facilitate any peace agreement negotiated in the United States.
Zakharova said Thursday that protections under discussion “are not guarantees of security for Ukraine, are guarantees of threat to the European continent.”
European leaders meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and French president Emmanuel Macron in the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, on September 4, 2025.
Ludovic Marin/Pool/AFP through Getty Images
Zelenskyy will meet with European leaders, the so -called “coalition of the provisions”, for new conversations in Paris on Thursday. Then, the group will talk to US President Donald Trump practically around 8 am et, according to a calendar published by the office of French president Emmanuel Macron.
Macron welcomed the Ukrainian leader to the Elysée Palace, which houses the presidential office on Wednesday.
“We are ready as Europeans to offer security guarantees to Ukraine and the Ukrainian people, the day a peace agreement is signed,” Macron said while standing next to Zelenskyy.
“The contributions that were prepared, documented and confirmed this afternoon at the level of the defense ministers in an extremely confidential way allow me to say that preparatory work is complete,” he added. The measures discussed on Wednesday were not immediately detailed.
“Now it will be politically supported, and allows us to do it in a solid way, and we will return to you tomorrow, after these meetings and discussions, to say that we are ready for a robust and lasting peace for Ukraine and for Europeans,” Macron said.
Zelenskyy said that, although “we have not received any sign from Russia that this war really wants to end”, he was “convinced” that a nearby union with Europe and the United States “will help us increase the pressure on Russia to move towards a diplomatic solution to this complex problem.”
Other European leaders attending Thursday’s conversations in Paris are the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Council Antonio Costa, Finnish President Alexander Stubb, Danish prime minister Mette Frederiksen and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk. Several other European leaders join the meeting virtually.
The White House said Trump will talk to Zelenskyy on Thursday. The president is expected to join the discussion virtually.
Speaking with journalists on Wednesday, Trump retreated the suggestion of a journalist from his “lack of action” about Russia in response to his continuous offensive operations and long -range attacks in Ukraine, despite his repeated threats of more sanctions and tariffs on Moscow.
“How do you know there is no action? Would you say that, putting secondary sanctions to India, the largest buyer outside China, is almost the same, I would say that there were no actions that cost hundreds of billions of dollars to Russia? Doesn’t any action call that?” Trump said.
The president referred to the recent imposition of 25% of tariffs on all imported Indian goods in response to the purchases of New Delhi of Russian energy goods and military equipment.
The French president, Emmanuel Macron, greets Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the ELísee Palace in Paris, France, on September 4, 2025.
Ludovic Marin/AFP through Getty Images
“And I haven’t done phase two,” Trump continued. “Or phase three. But when you say there is no action, I think you must get a new job. Because if you remember, two weeks ago, I did, I said, if India purchase, India has big problems. And that’s what happened. So don’t tell me about that.”
Trump and Putin met in Alaska almost three weeks ago. After that event, Trump suggested that a bilateral meeting between Putin and Zelenskyy should be the next step in the negotiation process.
The Kremlin has not given any indication of its willingness to support such a meeting, although Putin suggested this week that a meeting could take place in Moscow.
Kyiv quickly ruled out that proposal. Foreign Minister Andri Sybiha, said in a position to X: “Putin continues to play with everyone unacceptable proposals.”
Trump told reporters on Wednesday that he had no “message” for Putin. “He knows where I am standing, and he will make a decision in one way or another, whatever his decision, he will be happy with that or unhappy and if we are not happy with that, he will see that things happen.”
“We have taken very strong measures, as you know, and in other ways we have taken very strong measures,” Trump continued. “But I will talk to him in the next few days and we’ll see with him. I will know exactly what has happened.”
Tom Soufi Burridge of ABC News, Hannah Demissie, Will Gretsky, Yulia Drozd, Somayeh Malekian and Morgan Winsor contributed to this report.
