The other day, Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov, speaking at a briefing, called the “peacekeeping” troops that may be sent to Ukraine as part of the “coalition of the willing” occupation troops. With this statement, the Kremlin’s top propagandist highlighted a number of narratives that Russian propagandists generate to discredit Ukraine and its European partners. In addition, the minister’s message contains lies and fabrications. More on this later in the material.
Fake
At a briefing on September 17, 2025, Lavrov stated the following in particular: “And by pumping up the Zelensky regime with weapons, and recently also by forming peacekeeping, and in essence occupation forces, by talking about creating a no-fly zone, a no-fly zone over Ukraine… in Europe they are now considering whether it is possible to shoot down objects over Ukraine from the territory of neighboring countries, or whether we should wait until these objects fly to the border…” https://surl.lu/fjjcnz
Lavrov’s message about the “essentially occupation troops” of Europeans in Ukraine is absurd in essence. However, in the context of a fact-check analysis, it requires factual arguments.
According to the Great Ukrainian Encyclopedia (GUE), the term “occupation” from Latin – occupatio – means possession, occupation, or from occupare – to seize. In international law, occupation is the temporary occupation of enemy territory by armed forces in peacetime or wartime. According to the 4th Hague Convention, occupation begins with the establishment of actual control over the occupied territory and the formation of an occupation administration. Occupation is a temporary phenomenon that does not involve the transfer of sovereignty over the occupied territory to the aggressor. The inclusion of an occupied territory in the composition of the occupying state is prohibited by international law. https://surl.li/ghhpyf
Occupying forces are the armed forces of a state that have temporarily seized part or all of the territory of another state without receiving sovereign rights over it. Their activities are regulated by international conventions, such as the 1907 Hague Convention and the 1949 Geneva Convention, which establish rules for the treatment of occupied territory and population. https://surl.lt/smqzvb
Two key points can be summarized from the above. Occupation is the forcible seizure of the territory of a state by another state or several states. This is the retention of territory. The troops that seize and hold these territories are occupation troops.
This contradicts the logic of what Ukraine is currently discussing and proposing to its European partners. Ukraine is actually proposing, first of all, to European countries to deploy their peacekeeping troops or deterrent troops on their territories. That is, there is no question of any violent actions.
The troops that may be deployed in Ukraine as peacekeepers will not hold any territories, but according to the agreements that currently exist between Ukraine and the countries of the “coalition of the willing” – they will be deployed in certain cities and zones. Conventionally, the “peacekeeping” troops will not create any administrations in Ukraine, as is implied in the interpretation of this concept.
On September 4, a meeting of representatives of the “countries of the coalition of the willing” was held in Paris. Among the states that are ready to deploy their troops in Ukraine are the leaders of the “Coalition of the Willing” Great Britain and France, as well as the Netherlands, Australia, the Nordic countries and the Baltic states. The function of Western troops in Ukraine has not yet been agreed upon – there is an assumption that these will only be training missions, which will be deployed in large cities in central and western Ukraine. https://surl.li/mwobkm
Another key point that Lavrov ignores is that according to the plans, coalition troops will be deployed in Ukraine after the end of hostilities. https://surl.li/iiibma
So either Lavrov and the Kremlin leadership plan to fight in Ukraine to the last Russian and drag out the war for years. Or Moscow is already hinting that even after a ceasefire or peace agreement, it will continue military provocations against Ukraine.
In any case, Lavrov’s message is fake and manipulative. And speaking of European peacekeeping troops as occupation troops, the Russian minister indirectly stated the propaganda narrative that Ukraine is part of Russia. Because, only in this case is there logic in the words of the propagandist minister. However, Ukraine is and remains an independent and internationally recognized state. And it is the Russian troops that are the occupiers, and Russia is the aggressor country that launched a large-scale war against Ukraine on February 24, 2022, but cowardly called it “its own.”