Russian President Vladimir Putin said a peace agreement to end the war in Ukraine is "practically impossible," citing political obstacles in Kyiv and Ukraine's constitutional requirements for referendums on territorial changes. Speaking Friday at the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok, he dismissed Western proposals for a security force in Ukraine and warned that any NATO troops deployed there would be considered "legitimate targets."
"Why? Because it will be practically impossible to reach an agreement with the Ukrainian side on key issues, even if there were political will-which I doubt," Putin said, according to the state-run Tass agency. He pointed to Ukraine's constitution, which requires referendums on territorial matters, approvals from the Constitutional Court, and the lifting of martial law before any settlement. "Therefore, this endless process leads nowhere," he said.
Putin added that Moscow was ready for "meetings at the highest level" but said he would only meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Moscow, a condition Kyiv has already rejected. "If any troops appear there, especially now during the course of hostilities, we proceed from the assumption that they will be legitimate targets for destruction," Putin warned, referring to proposed Western deployments.
His remarks followed a summit in Paris where French President Emmanuel Macron said 26 of Ukraine's allies had committed to sending troops "by land, sea or air" to help secure the country once a ceasefire is in place. Macron stressed that the force "does not have the will or the objective of waging war against Russia," but to deter "any new major aggression."
Zelensky called the Paris commitments "the first concrete step" toward guarantees. On Friday, he posted on X: "It is important to move faster on security guarantees for Ukraine, to be as productive as possible together with America, to strengthen our air defense. Putin pretends he does not need peace, does not need negotiations, but in fact global pressure can shape Russia's interest in ending the war."
U.S. President Donald Trump has been pressing for a summit between Putin and Zelensky following his August 15 meeting with Putin in Alaska. At a White House briefing last week, Trump said, "Yes, there will be [consequences]. We're going to see what happens, what they do and what happens. I'm watching it very closely... I want to see it end."
Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov praised Trump's "very constructive efforts" but accused European nations of pushing "outrageous efforts... to provoke continuation of the war." Kremlin officials insisted Russia is open to dialogue but rejected the concept of Western "reassurance forces," instead suggesting Russia itself should act as a guarantor of Ukraine's security-an idea Kyiv and its allies oppose.
NATO leaders dismissed Moscow's threats. Secretary-General Mark Rutte said, "Why are we interested in what Russia thinks about troops in Ukraine? It's a sovereign country. It's not for them to decide." British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Western allies had made an "unbreakable pledge" to Kyiv, while German Chancellor Friedrich Merz emphasized the immediate priority was securing a ceasefire.
Putin maintained Russia's military is "pushing forward on all fronts" more than three and a half years after the invasion began. He said there was "a certain light at the end of the tunnel" but repeated that Ukraine's legal framework makes negotiations unworkable. Neutral capitals have been floated as possible venues for talks, but Russia's insistence on Moscow has fueled skepticism. Zelensky responded this week: "We support any format, bilateral meeting, trilateral meeting. I believe that Russia does everything to defer it."
