Putin Warns Western Troops in Ukraine Will Be “Legitimate Targets”
Sometimes it is not the words that make the strongest impression, but the reaction. In the Russian Far East, Vladimir Putin issued a stark warning to the West: do not send troops not even peacekeepers — to Ukraine. “If some troops appear there,” Putin declared, “especially now while the fighting’s going on, we proceed from the premise that these will be legitimate targets for destruction.” The audience at the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok erupted in applause, a chilling endorsement from Russian officials and business leaders who welcomed the threat against Western forces. This reaction came just a day after Ukraine’s allies, the so-called Coalition of the Willing, pledged to establish a post-war “reassurance force” for Kyiv. Putin doubled down on his conditions for talks, saying he would meet Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky only in Moscow. “The best place for […]