Putin: Foreign Troops in Ukraine Would Be 'Legitimate Targets'

It seems like only yesterday we had some hopes for an end to the Russo-Ukrainian War, but that's looking less and less likely by the day. Following the Alaska Summit and the gathering of European leaders in Washington, Russia's Vladimir Putin seems dismissive of any peace deals, and Russian forces continue hammering Ukraine.

Now, in a statement that hints at a terrifying escalation should it happen, Putin is claiming that any foreign troops in Ukraine would be "legitimate targets" for the Russian military.

That's not good.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday that any foreign troops deployed to Ukraine, particularly while its invasion was still ongoing, would be considered “legitimate targets” by Moscow’s forces.

Putin’s comments came hours after European leaders repledged their commitment to a potential peacekeeping force, a prospect that Moscow has repeatedly described as “unacceptable.”

“If any troops appear there, especially now while fighting is ongoing, we assume that they will be legitimate targets,” he said during a panel at the Eastern Economic Forum in the far eastern Russian city of Vladivostok.

Think about that. He is saying that the Russian forces would knowingly engage non-Ukrainian forces in Ukraine, deliberately; he's saying that the Russian command structure, in which he holds the highest chair, would be willing to order such a strike. How would any European power react to such an event?

There's more.

Putin also dismissed the idea of peacekeeping forces in Ukraine after a final peace deal, saying “no one should doubt” that Moscow would comply with a treaty to halt its 3½-year full-scale invasion of its neighbor.

He said that security guarantees would be needed for both Russia and Ukraine.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov later said Moscow would need “legally binding documents” to outline such agreements. “Of course, you can’t just take anybody’s word for something,” he told Russian news outlet Argumenty i Fakty.

So, foreign troops in Ukraine are legitimate targets - but there won't be any foreign troops in Ukraine to help maintain a cease-fire, much less an actual armistice.

Things are, to put it mildly, not looking good.

Read More: Surprise: Putin Invites Zelensky to Meet, but in Moscow

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All along, there has been the worry that this thing could get rapidly out of hand. An attack by Russian forces on French, Italian, British, or German troops would be one way that could happen. Granted, major wars in Europe are nothing new; that poor continent has sure seen a lot of them, from before Roman times to date. But a major war now, with modern weapons, in a Europe that has plenty of problems already - that prospect is, shall we say, disconcerting.

Russia isn't backing off. Thursday night into early Friday morning, Russian forces launched 157 drones and 7 missiles into Ukraine. Ukrainian forces claim to have shot down or disabled 121 of the drones. Ukraine reports that residential buildings in the city of Dnipro in central Ukraine were damaged, and other reports describe attacks on infrastructure in the northern district of Novhorod-Siversk. 

Those attacks are, sadly, pretty much business as usual between Russia and Ukraine right now. But a Russian attack on non-Ukrainian forces brings up some worries that most of Europe hasn't harbored since the fall of the Soviet Union.

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