Russia slams Ukrainian-European plan for peacekeeping force

MOSCOW

Moscow on Thursday labelled Ukraine and its European backers an "axis of war", warning agreements they had reached for the deployment of a peacekeeping force were far from anything Russia could accept to end the war.

In its first comments after Ukraine's allies said they had agreed key security guarantees for Kiev at a summit in Paris, Russia slammed the plan as "militarist" and appeared to douse hopes it would lead to a swift end to the conflict as it approaches the four-year mark.

European leaders and U.S. envoys announced earlier this week that the security guarantees for Kiev would include a U.S.-led monitoring mechanism and a European multinational force that would be deployed if a ceasefire could be reached.

"All such units and facilities will be considered legitimate military targets for the Russian Armed Forces," Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a statement.

Moscow has repeatedly warned that it would not accept any NATO members sending peacekeeping troops to Ukraine and threatened they could come under Russian fire as it continues its all-out assault.

"The new militarist declarations of the so-called Coalition of the Willing and the Kiev regime together form a genuine 'axis of war'," Zakharova said, calling the plans drafted by Kiev's allies "dangerous" and "destructive".

The declaration of intent inked in Paris would see Britain, France and other European allies deploy troops to Ukraine after a potential ceasefire.

But specific details on the force and how it would engage were absent and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he was yet to receive an "unequivocal" answer of what they would do if Russia attacks again.

Ukraine also said that the most difficult questions in any possible deal to end the fighting — territorial control of the eastern Donbas region and the fate of the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant — were still unresolved.