Macron risks Putin’s anger as Russia ‘has no say’ on troops being sent to Ukraine

Emmanuel Macron is risking Vladimir Putin’s fury as he stated will have no say on the presence of peacekeeping troops in should a ceasefire be reached. The French preisdent told local press: ” is sovereign. If it asks for allied forces to be on its territory, it’s not something for to accept or not.”

The UK and France have been among the countries saying to be ready to send troops to as security guarantee once the three-year-long conflict ends. However, the Kremlin has rejected with fury any proposals involving foreign troops in . Last week, Russian Foreign Secretary Sergei Lavrov said would not accept “under any conditions” NATO soldiers on the grounds in .

Mr Macron added that a peacekeeping force would consist of “a few thousand troops per country”, from European and non-European nations, to be deployed at key locations in .

This comes after Sir hosted a virtual meeting for the “coalition of the willing” – a group of countries in support of a security guarantee for .

Twenty six nations attended, including , to discuss how to end the protracted conflict.

The Prime Minister said Western military chiefs will meet on Thursday to discuss the “operational phase” of a potential peacekeeping mission.