RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE
NATO ‘peacekeepers’ in Ukraine mean war – Medvedev
The deployment of “peacekeepers” from NATO member states to Ukraine would trigger an all-out war between the military bloc and Moscow, former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has warned.
In recent weeks, the leaders of the UK and France have ramped up discussions about such a mission.
In a post on X on Sunday, Medvedev, who currently serves as the deputy chair of Russia’s Security Council, stated that French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer “are playing dumb.”
“Time and again they are told that peacekeepers must be from non-NATO states. No, we will send tens of thousands – just lay it out – you want to give military aid to the neo-Nazis in Kiev,” Medvedev charged.
“That means war with NATO. Consult with [US President Donald]Trump, scumbags,” he concluded.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov previously similarly argued that the deployment of NATO military personnel to Ukraine, even under the guise of peacekeepers, would be tantamount to the “direct, official, undisguised involvement of NATO countries in the war against Russia.”
Earlier this month, Starmer announced that Britain and France were ready to lead a “coalition of the willing” to provide military support to Kiev, including the deployment of troops and aircraft. Speaking following an emergency summit in London, he said that “not every nation will feel able to contribute, but that can’t mean that we sit back. Instead, those willing will intensify planning now with real urgency.”
“The UK is prepared to back this with boots on the ground and planes in the air, together with others,” Starmer further clarified.
Macron said Western troops would arrive in Ukraine only if and when the situation on the ground was safe for them.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who attended the meeting along with several other leaders, stressed that “the presence of Italian troops in Ukraine has never been on the agenda.”
In contrast, former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau indicated that Ottawa was considering all possible options and was not ruling out sending troops to Ukraine.
Reiterating his readiness to deploy British military personnel to the conflict zone, Starmer told Parliament earlier this month that this effort would be contingent on securing US backing.
On Monday, Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen told DR radio that “if it comes to the point where a European presence is needed for a ceasefire or peace agreement to be reached, then Denmark is in principle prepared for that.”
Commenting on the prospect of NATO troops arriving in Ukraine, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated last month that such a development would be “completely unacceptable to us,” citing the ramifications it would have for Russia’s national security.
WESTERN PERSPECTIVE
Russian troops battle last Ukrainian forces in Kursk region
Russia battled on Sunday to drive the last Ukrainian soldiers from western Russia, Russian officials said, after a seven-month incursion by Ukraine that aimed to distract Moscow's forces, gain a bargaining chip and rile President Vladimir Putin.
In one of the most striking battles of the three-year-old Ukraine war, Ukrainian forces smashed their way across Russia's western border in Kursk last August, marking the biggest attack on sovereign Russian territory since the Nazi invasion of 1941.
But a lightning offensive this month has reduced the area under Ukrainian control to about 110 square km (42 square miles), down from the more than 1,368 square km (528 square miles) claimed by Kyiv last year, according to open source maps.
Yuri Podolyaka, one of the most influential pro-Russian military bloggers, said Russia had pushed back Ukrainian forces to the border in some areas, though intense battles were underway and that Ukrainian forces were fighting back as they retreated.
Battlefield maps from both Ukraine and Russia showed two joined pockets of Ukrainian forces on the Russian side of the border in Kursk. Russia said it was clearing large numbers of mines in the area.
After a public appeal by U.S. President Donald Trump last week to spare "surrounded" Ukrainian troops, Putin said on Friday that Russia would guarantee the lives of Ukrainian troops in the region if they surrendered.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Saturday his troops were not surrounded but sounded the alarm over what he said could be a new Russian attack on Ukraine's northeast Sumy region, which borders Kursk.
The influential Two Majors pro-Russian military blogger said the battlefield gains of Russian forces had allowed Russia to threaten Sumy, but cautioned that Ukrainian forces had been bolstering defences there for some time.
Putin has accused Ukrainian troops of carrying out crimes against civilians in Kursk, something Kyiv denies. Ukraine says as many as 11,000 North Korean troops are fighting with Russia in Kursk, though Russia and North Korea have refused to give any details on North Korean troops there.
The fierce battle for the Kursk region has framed efforts by Trump to end what he says is a "bloodbath" war that could escalate into World War Three.
CEASEFIRE?
Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 has left hundreds of thousands of people dead and injured, displaced millions, reduced towns to rubble and triggered the sharpest confrontation for decades between Moscow and the West.
The U.S. agreed on Tuesday to resume military aid and intelligence sharingwith Ukraine after Kyiv said it was ready to support Washington's proposal for a 30-day ceasefire.
Putin said on Thursday Russia supported the truce proposal in principle, but that fighting could not be paused until a number of crucial conditions were worked out or clarified.
Putin has repeatedly said that he is ready to talk about peace though Ukraine will have to declare it will not seek NATO membership and Russia will keep all of the land that it claims in Ukraine, including some it does not control.
Russia has paid a heavy price for the invasion.
U.S. intelligence estimates say more than 100,000 Russian troops have been killed or injured, according to a 2023 assessment, while the economy has been heavily distorted by record defence spending and the toughest Western sanctions ever imposed.
Ukraine has also seen more than 100,000 troopskilled or injured, according to leaked U.S. intelligence estimates. Its economy has been shattered. One-fifth of its territory is under Russian control, and Kyiv has been unable to defeat Russia's forces despite receiving more than $260 billion in Western aid.
