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       MOSCOW: Russia pushed back on Wed-nesday against the idea of European peacekeeping troops being deployed to Ukraine, and downpla-yed chances of a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, in another blow to chances of a peace deal.

       United States President Donald Trump has recently met both Zelensky and Russi-a’s President Vladimir in his bid to end the conflict.

       But Russia has shown little sign it is willing to compromise.

       Ukraine is pushing for Western-backed security guarantees as a part of any agreement to ensure Russia does not attack again, while Moscow is demanding Kyiv cedes more territory in its east.

       When asked how the Kremlin would view any possible European peacekeeping force in Ukraine, Kremlin spokesman Dm--itry Peskov said: “We view such discussions neg---at---ively.”

       He said it was “exactly this movement of Nato military infrastructure … into Ukraine” that Russia sees as one of the “root causes” behind its move to launch the all-out offensive in Feb 2022.

       Security guarantees for Ukraine are “one of the most important topics” in talks over a settlement, Peskov said, adding Moscow would not discuss specifics of what they could look like publicly.

       Zelensky had earlier accused Russia — which has rejected several calls for an immediate ceasefire — of not being serious about seeking peace.

       “The Russians are currently sending negative signals regarding meetings and further developments. Strikes on our cities and villages continue,” he said in a post on social media.

       Kyiv is holding talks with its key backers in a bid to firm up what any security guarantees could look like.

       Putin-Zelensky meeting

       Zelensky also sees a meeting with Putin as crucial to breaking the deadlock over a possible deal.

       But the Kremlin —which has repeatedly tried to cast doubt on Zel-e---nsky’s legitimacy — further pushed back against the idea a summit was likely to take place soon.

       “Any high-level or top-level contact must be well-prepared in order to be effective,” Peskov told rep------orters in a briefing call.

       He also said the heads of Russian and Ukrainian negotiating teams were “in touch”, but no date had been set for future talks.

       Three rounds of negotiations between the sides in Istanbul have failed to yield anything more than prisoner exchanges.

       Moscow’s negotiators demanded Ukraine pull its troops out of four reg-ions — Donetsk, Kherson, Lugansk and Zaporiz-hzhia — that Russia cla-ims to have annexed but does not fully control as a precondition to a peace deal.

       Kyiv has rejected that idea as a non-starter.

       Attack on power plants

       Strikes across Ukraine on Wednesday killed thr-ee people and left more than 100,000 households without power, Kyiv said.

       “Russians attacked energy and gas transport infrastructure facilities in six regions,” the Ukra-inian energy ministry said in a statement.

       It called the attack a “deliberate policy of destroying Ukraine’s inf-r--a---s-t-ructure”.

       Published in Dawn, August 28th, 2025