INTERVIEW: Russia Against Peacekeepers From Countries Supporting Kiev in Ukraine — Envoy

Director of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s Department of International Organizations Kirill Logvinov also recalled that it was the "arrogant unwillingness of Westerners to hear" Moscow's position that led to the conflict

© Sofia Sandurskaya/TASS

YALTA, March 31. /TASS/. Russia is saying a resolute no to the idea of sending peacekeepers to Ukraine by countries which have been supplying Kiev with weapons, Kirill Logvinov, director of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s Department of International Organizations, told TASS in an interview.

"They (Europeans - TASS) are turning an absolutely deaf ear to warnings that we categorically oppose the very idea of putting boots of those countries which continue to send weapons to Kiev on the ground in Ukraine," the Russian diplomat said.

Exactly what Loginov called the Westerners’ arrogant refusal to listen to Russia’s position had led to the Ukraine conflict, he emphasized.

On March 27, Paris hosted a summit of the coalition of the willing where representatives of some 30 countries discussed potential post-conflict security guarantees for Kiev. While the United States did not attend the gathering, a number of countries said they are willing to take part in a potential peacekeeping mission in Ukraine only with Washington’s support.

On March 12, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that a potential deployment of NATO troops under any flag and in any capacity on Ukrainian soil would pose a threat to Russia which would not "under any conditions" tolerate the presence of NATO troops as peacekeepers on Ukrainian soil.