NATO chief Mark Rutte said Thursday, September 2, that Russia did not have a veto on whether Western powers can deploy troops to Ukraine as part of security guarantees if a truce is reached. "Why are we interested in what Russia thinks about troops in Ukraine? It's a sovereign country. It's not for them to decide," Rutte said. "Russia has nothing to do with this."
Leaders from a so-called coalition of the willing spearheaded by France and Britain are holding talks Thursday to firm up contributions to the planned security guarantees. "If Ukraine wants to have security guarantee forces in Ukraine to support a peace deal, it's up to them. Nobody else can decide about it," Rutte said on a visit to Prague. "I think we really have to stop making Putin too powerful," he added, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Western diplomats say that the group of roughly 30 countries discussing a possible "reassurance force" for Ukraine now have concrete numbers of the troops they could commit. European nations hope that by putting a clear plan on the table they can convince US President Donald Trump to make good on a promise to offer American military backing.
Russia has said it remains firmly opposed to any Western troops being deployed in Ukraine as part of a possible peace settlement. Trump has been pushing to end the war, but the Kremlin has been stalling efforts to organize direct talks between Putin and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky.