Russian President Vladimir Putin has rejected Western proposals for a reassurance force in Ukraine the day after any ceasefire comes into place, following a Paris summit aimed at finalising plans for security guarantees.
French President Emmanuel Macron said 26 of Ukraine's allies had formally committed to deploying troops by land, sea or air to help provide security the moment fighting was brought to a halt. He did not detail any of the countries involved.
Putin sought to quash the allies' initiative with a warning that any troops deployed to Ukraine would be legitimate targets, especially if they appeared now, even though there are no plans for an immediate deployment.
There seems little hope of a ceasefire for now, after last month's summit in Alaska between Putin and US President Donald Trump briefly raised hopes of a meeting with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and a potential peace deal.
Putin said on Friday he was ready for contact with the Ukrainian leader but I do not see much point. Why? Because it is nearly impossible to reach agreement with the Ukrainian side on key issues. His spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, praised Trump's very constructive efforts in finding a solution but attacked the outrageous efforts of European countries to provoke continuation of the war.
Since the Alaska meeting, the Coalition of the Willing - led by the UK and France - has been working intensively on providing Kyiv with guarantees if an agreement is reached. These would involve strengthening Ukraine's military as well as providing a reassurance force to patrol any deal.
Macron stressed any troops would be deployed to prevent any new major aggression and not at the front line. The force does not have the will or the objective of waging war against Russia, he said.
Zelensky described the decisions taken at Thursday's Paris meeting as the first concrete step. The US has not made the scale of its involvement clear, but the French president said that would be finalised in the coming days.
Trump recently indicated that US backing could probably come in the form of air support, and Zelensky said he had spoken to the US leader about maximum protection for Ukraine's skies.
Trump said he was having a very good dialogue with Putin and planned to speak to him in the near future. Putin confirmed on Friday that he had an open dialogue with the American president.
Kyiv believes a ceasefire should be agreed in Ukraine before any attempt at securing a broader peace deal, although Russia disagrees.
Answering questions at an economic forum in Vladivostok in Russia's far east, Putin argued that if decisions are reached that will lead... to long-term peace, then I simply don't see the point in [foreign troops'] presence [in Ukraine]. He added that Russia would comply with any decisions leading to long-term peace in full.
Ukraine and its Western allies are unlikely to find his words convincing. Putin also maintained he was ready to host a summit with Ukraine in Moscow and offered to provide security.
When the BBC's Steve Rosenberg suggested to Putin's spokesman that the proposal indicated that Russia was more interested in Ukraine's capitulation than a peace deal, Peskov answered: Not at all, not at all. He's invited to Moscow to talk, not to capitulate.
Zelensky has already ridiculed Moscow's idea as proof that Putin is not serious. Several neutral capital cities have been suggested instead, but Putin has complained of excessive demands.
Western leaders also believe that Russia is playing for time in a bid to seize more Ukrainian territory, as its 40-month full-scale war grinds on. Putin, who spent Wednesday with China's Xi Jinping and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, maintains that his country's military is pushing forward on all fronts in Ukraine.
