Russia Rejects European Security Guarantee Proposals , Rules Out NATO Troops in Ukraine

Russia said Wednesday it opposes European proposals on security guarantees for Ukraine, stressing that it will not accept any NATO troop presence on its neighbor’s territory. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov argued that the deployment of European forces would effectively amount to NATO expansion into Ukraine, which Moscow has sought to prevent since the beginning of the conflict.

Peskov noted that the advancement of NATO military infrastructure was among the root causes of the war, adding that Moscow has a “negative attitude” toward discussions of NATO-linked guarantees. He reiterated that security guarantees remain a crucial element of any peace deal but emphasized that they should not be debated in public. Russia, he said, still supports reviving a 2022 proposal under which it would serve as one of Ukraine’s security guarantors—a plan Kyiv has rejected as giving Moscow a veto over Western military aid.

At the same time, Peskov praised U.S. President Donald Trump’s ongoing mediation efforts as “very important” and expressed hope they would continue. He called this month’s U.S.-Russia summit in Alaska between Trump and President Vladimir Putin “constructive and useful.” Trump has ruled out deploying U.S. ground troops to Ukraine but has left open other military support, such as air or intelligence assistance. While Russian and Ukrainian negotiators remain in contact, no date has been set for the next round of peace talks, following a brief meeting in Istanbul in late July.