Foreign troops in Ukraine to be targets: Russia

Russia said yesterday that any troops sent to Ukraine by Western governments would be “legitimate combat targets”, after Britain and France announced plans to deploy a multinational force there in the event of a ceasefire.

A Russian Foreign Ministry statement said “militaristic declarations” by a coalition of pro-Ukraine Western governments were becoming increasingly dangerous.

Russia was responding for the first time to a meeting of the “coalition of the willing” in Paris on Tuesday at which Britain and France signed a declaration of intent on the future deployment. 

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said it paved the way for a legal framework whereby “British, French and partner forces could operate on Ukrainian soil.”