The Kremlin has appeared to reject Donald Trump’s claim that Vladimir Putin is open to European peacekeeping troops in Ukraine, underscoring Moscow’s reluctance to align with Trump’s efforts to quickly end the war despite a thaw in relations.
Pushing to deliver on a central campaign pledge, Trump asserted on Monday that the Ukraine war “could end within weeks” and claimed that he and Putin supported the presence of European troops on the ground.
“Yeah, he will accept that,” Trump said, speaking to reporters during a meeting at the White House with the French president, Emmanuel Macron.
“I specifically asked him that question. He has no problem with it,” Trump added.
But at a press conference on Tuesday, Putin’s spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, referred to an earlier statement that such a move would be unacceptable to Moscow.
“There is a position on this matter that was expressed by Russian foreign minister [Sergei] Lavrov. I have nothing to add to this and nothing to comment on,” Peskov said.
After talks with the US in Riyadh last week, Lavrov said the presence of European peacekeepers in Ukraine would be “unacceptable”.
The latest divergence weakens Trump’s push for a swift peace deal, despite intensified diplomatic efforts, including last week’s talks and a noticeable thaw in rhetoric between Washington and Moscow.
The Kremlin’s rejection of western forces in Ukraine could pose a major early test for Trump’s team in handling a public rebuke from Moscow, and also exposes Washington’s limited influence over Putin’s willingness to make concessions.
It also raises questions about whether European leaders will move forward with solidifying their plans for a peacekeeping force, as Putin makes it clear that he will not accept the presence of European troops in Ukraine as part of any settlement.
While Ukraine has signalled openness to territorial compromises, potentially ceding some of its land lost since 2014, Volodymyr Zelenskyy is unlikely to sign any agreement without tangible security guarantees from the west, most notably the presence of European troops on the ground.
Speaking in front of Russian officials on Monday, Putin tempered expectations about negotiations reaching a quick conclusion, saying he had only broadly discussed the issue of resolution of the conflict in Ukraine with Trump.
“But it was not discussed in detail,” Putin said. “We only agreed that we would move toward this. And in this case, of course, we are not refusing the participation of European countries [in talks].”
The Kremlin has dismissed the idea of a simple ceasefire, arguing that Ukraine could use the pause to rearm.
Putin has instead insisted on addressing what he calls the “root causes” of the conflict, citing Ukraine’s Nato membership ambitions and what he describes as an anti-Russian government in Kyiv.
The Russian leader remains committed to limiting the size and power of Kyiv’s military, prohibiting foreign weapons on Ukrainian soil, ensuring Ukraine’s permanent neutrality, and maintaining influence over its political future, according to two people familiar with Kremlin thinking.
The sources, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the matter freely, said Putin viewed the peace talks as an opportunity to reshape Europe’s security order, with one key condition for normalising relations with the US being the withdrawal of Nato forces from eastern Europe.
Kremlin officials have also emphasised in public that they are unwilling to make territorial concessions, insisting on full control over the four Ukrainian regions Moscow claimed in 2022 – some of which it has yet to fully occupy.
Thomas Graham, a former White House adviser on Russia who recently travelled to Moscow, where he met Russian officials, said: “It’s quite clear from the Russian standpoint that president Putin wants to control Ukraine and all of Ukraine. That he wants control over Ukraine’s geopolitical orientation, to a limited extent its domestic politics.”
Graham added: “That his vision of a future Ukraine that’s beyond Russia’s physical control is along the lines of the relationship that Belarus has with Russia at this point … How you reconcile those two diverging visions, I think, is quite difficult. That will be the sticking point. And I think the Russians are in a position now where they realise that there will be a problem.”
For now, Putin is likely to keep the dialogue going. Trump was accused of handing Putin a symbolic victory when the two had a telephone call earlier this month, breaking the western unity that had sought to isolate Moscow since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
The US administration has also echoed some Russian narratives, suggesting that Ukraine bears responsibility for a war that actually began with Russia’s invasion.
“To address pressing issues, Russia and the US must trust each other,” Putin said on Monday, signalling his openness to future talks with Washington.
Meanwhile, Moscow remains committed to its military campaign, believing that battlefield gains will only strengthen its position at the negotiating table.
While earlier this year there were indications that Russia’s advance in eastern Ukraine was slowing, the past week has shown a renewed push by Moscow. According to Deep State, a Ukrainian open-source research group, Russian forces have captured nearly 90 sq km of territory – their largest weekly gain since December.
Ukraine at the same time confronting the grim but realistic question of how long it can sustain the fight if Trump decides to cut off US military support.
“With every town and city captured, Russia’s position will only harden,” said the source familiar with Moscow’s thinking. “Moscow has time on its side,” the source added.
