Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has warned that any military contingents from a so-called «coalition of the willing» deployed to Ukraine would be treated as legitimate targets by the Russian armed forces.

He argued that the ambitions of European leaders «effectively blind them» and claimed that in the European Union there is concern neither for Ukrainians nor, as he put it, for their own populations. Lavrov pointed to ongoing discussions in Europe about sending troops to Ukraine in this coalition format and said that Moscow had repeatedly made it clear such forces would be regarded as lawful targets for Russian troops, according to TASS.

As for Ukraine, the Russian side, he stated, does not see any readiness on the part of the Kiev regime for constructive negotiations on resolving the conflict. Lavrov also accused the Ukrainian authorities of terror against civilians. He maintained that the Ukrainian armed forces are still trying to change the situation on the battlefield, while the strategic initiative, in his words, remains with the Russian forces.

He recalled that in mid-December European leaders announced that a system of security guarantees for Kiev should include the creation of multinational forces under EU leadership. Later, British Defence Secretary John Hili said that countries in the «coalition of the willing» had raised the readiness level of their units ahead of a possible deployment to Ukraine.