MOSCOW (Dispatches) - The Kremlin said on Tuesday that Russian troops were constantly hearing foreign languages spoken by those fighting for Ukraine on the front line, and promised that such fighters would be “destroyed”.
Russia has long said that NATO military personnel have been present in Ukraine and that its eavesdropping services have picked up English and French being spoken repeatedly at the front lines.
The U.S.-led NATO military alliance says it supports Ukraine but has not deployed soldiers there. U.S. media reports, indicate that U.S. and leading European intelligence agencies have a significant presence in Ukraine.
“Our military hears foreign speech, they constantly hear foreign languages at the front,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters when asked about claims that France was preparing to deploy some soldiers to Ukraine.
“So, these foreigners are there, we are destroying them. Our military will continue to do their job.”
President Volodymyr Zelensky stated that Ukraine needs European financial support to continue fighting Russia for another two or three years.
“I emphasized this again to all European leaders. I told them that we are not going to fight for decades, but you must show that for some time you will be able to provide stable financial support to Ukraine,” Zelensky told journalists on Tuesday.” 
And that is why they have this program in mind –- 2-3 years,” he added, referring to a European Commission proposal to gradually unlock frozen Russian assets to fund Ukraine. 
Ukraine is ready for peace negotiations but will not withdraw its soldiers from additional territory first as Moscow has demanded, he stressed. 
Zelensky also urged U.S. President Donald Trump to pressure Chinese leader Xi Jinping to cut his support for Russia when the two leaders meet later this week. 
“I think this may be one of Trump’s strong moves, especially if, following this decisive sanctions step, China is ready to reduce imports” from Russia, Zelensky said.
In recent weeks, the EU has been considering giving Ukraine a so-called ‘reparations loan’ of up to €140 billion ($163 billion), using frozen Russian assets as collateral to back the bloc-issued bonds. 
The move would effectively amount to the seizure of the Russian funds, given that Ukraine would be obliged to repay the loan only once Moscow compensates it for damages inflicted during the conflict. 
So far, Belgium, which hosts clearinghouse Euroclear, where most of Moscow’s frozen funds are being kept, has been skeptical of the loan proposal and has demanded that liability be shared among all EU members if the move is made.
On Wednesday, the Ukrainian parliament voted in favor of the country’s draft budget for 2026, which has a deficit of over 58%. It projects that the Kiev government will spend 4.8 trillion hryvnia (around $114 billion) next year, while earning just 2.8 trillion hryvnia (around $68 billion). According to the draft, the 2.8 trillion hryvnia in tax revenue will be used to fund the military, with all other state expenditure to be covered by financial aid from foreign backers.