BUJUMBURA: Burundi's president says a proposed African Union peacekeeping force for his country is unacceptable and will be fought as hostile invaders.

In an address to the nation Wednesday, President Pierre Nkurunziza said the peacekeepers' presence in Burundi would be a violation of the country's sovereignty as there is no active fighting in Burundi and because there is a government in place.

Nkurunziza, whose loyalists in the military defeated an attempted coup in May, faces international pressure to negotiate with his rivals. Burundi has been plagued by violence since April, when the ruling party announced that Nkurunziza would seek a third term.

He was absent at the launch of the Uganda-mediated talks on Monday, and his representatives there said they did not want to negotiate with the alleged coup plotters.