NATO chief says Ukraine decides itself, Moscow calls foreign troops “unacceptable”

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte stressed that the decision on the presence of forces in this country belongs solely to Kyiv, while Russia responded by calling any discussion of foreign intervention “unacceptable”.

The Gaze reports on it, referring to Deutsche Welle and Reuters.

Mark Rutte stressed that the issue of deploying Western troops on Ukrainian territory does not concern Russia and that it has no right of veto. 

“It's not up to them to decide,” he said at an event organized by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) in Prague on Thursday, September 4.

According to him, Ukraine is a sovereign state, and it is up to Ukraine to decide whether the presence of foreign troops is necessary within the framework of security guarantees. 

“I think we really have to stop making Putin too influential,” Rutte added.

Earlier, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that the EU is developing “pretty precise plans” for the deployment of multinational troops in Ukraine after the end of the conflict. This involves the participation of European countries and US support as part of security guarantees. 

At the same time, Russia strongly rejects any discussion of the potential deployment of foreign troops on Ukrainian territory, calling such plans unacceptable and undermining security. 

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova stressed that Moscow does not intend to negotiate “foreign intervention” in Ukraine in any form.

"Russia is not going to discuss a foreign intervention in Ukraine in any form or format that is fundamentally unacceptable and undermines any security," Zakharova told a weekly briefing with reporters on Thursday.

As The Gaze reported earlier, the US President Donald Trump is discussing with European partners the possibility of involving private military contractors in Ukraine after a peace agreement is reached.