Kremlin warns of warfare with NATO if European members ship troops

The Kremlin warned right this moment that battle between Russia and NATO could be inevitable if European members despatched troops to battle in Ukraine.

French President Emmanuel Macron warned yesterday that European nations haven’t dominated out placing boots on the bottom.

He stated that nothing needs to be excluded because the West seemed for a method to counter Russia, which controls slightly below a fifth of territory recognised as Ukraine.

‘We will do every part that we should in order that Russia doesn’t win,’ Macron stated.

‘The actual fact of discussing the opportunity of sending sure contingents to Ukraine from NATO international locations is a vital new component,’ Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated when questioned about Macron’s remarks.

Asked in regards to the dangers if NATO members despatched their troops to battle in Ukraine, Peskov stated: ‘In that case, we would want to speak not in regards to the chance, however in regards to the inevitability (of a direct battle).’

The warfare in Ukraine has triggered the worst disaster in Russia’s relations with the West because the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis and President Vladimir Putin has beforehand warned of the hazards of a direct confrontation between NATO and Russia

Ukrainian servicemen of the 68th Separate Jager Infantry Brigade “Oleksa Dovbush” hearth a howitzer in the direction of Russian positions, at an undisclosed location within the Donetsk area, japanese Ukraine, on Monday

Peskov stated that the West ought to ask themselves if such a situation was within the pursuits of their international locations and their peoples.

The warfare in Ukraine has triggered the worst disaster in Russia’s relations with the West because the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis and President Vladimir Putin has beforehand warned of the hazards of a direct confrontation between NATO and Russia.

Even discuss of a confrontation between Russia and NATO – a Cold War nightmare of leaders and populations alike – signifies the hazards of escalation because the West grapples with a resurgent Russia 32 years after the 1991 fall of the Soviet Union.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz right this moment rejected the concept of European international locations and NATO sending troops to Ukraine after Macron’s stated the concept couldn’t be dominated out.

‘What was agreed from the start amongst ourselves and with one another additionally applies to the longer term, particularly that there might be no troopers on Ukrainian soil despatched there by European states or NATO states,’ Scholz stated.

‘The UK already has a small variety of personnel in nation supporting the armed forces of Ukraine, together with for medical coaching,’ Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s spokesman stated right this moment.

‘We’ve obtained no plans to make a large-scale deployment,’ he stated, including: ‘The UK can also be coaching massive numbers of Ukrainian personnel right here within the UK. We’re clearly supporting Ukrainian troops as nicely via provision of kit, provides.’

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, accused by critics of being too cosy with Moscow, stated after the assembly that there was disunity on the problem amongst European leaders.

‘There are international locations which can be able to ship their very own troopers to Ukraine, there are international locations that say by no means – Slovakia is amongst them – and there are international locations that say that this proposal needs to be thought-about,’ he stated.

Macron stated that nothing needs to be excluded because the West seemed for a method to counter Russia, which controls slightly below a fifth of territory recognised as Ukraine

Ukrainian troopers of their preventing place within the course of Bakhmut, Donetsk Oblast

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson of Sweden, which is ready to hitch NATO, poured chilly water on the concept, saying ‘it isn’t on the playing cards in any respect for the second’.

Italy stated worldwide assist for Ukraine doesn’t embody the presence of floor troops, warning in opposition to giving the impression of being ‘at warfare with Russia’.

‘Since the beginning of Russia’s aggression two years in the past, all of the allies have been unified over the assist to supply Kyiv,’ the federal government stated in a press release.

‘This assist doesn’t envisage the presence on Ukrainian territory of troops from European or NATO states.’

French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal reaffirmed Macron’s feedback on Tuesday, saying: ‘You cannot rule something out in a warfare’.

He added: ‘I recall that two years in the past many round this desk stated we’ll supply sleeping baggage and helmets and now they are saying we have to do extra and faster to have missiles and tanks.’

Russia and the United States – the massive energy behind NATO – have the world’s largest arsenals of nuclear weapons. President Joe Biden has cautioned {that a} battle between Russia and NATO might set off World War Three.

After the Russian invasion in 2022, Western leaders stated they’d assist Ukraine defeat Russian troops on the battlefield and drive out Russian troops. But that has not occurred.

Ukraine’s counteroffensive in 2023 didn’t pierce closely dug in Russian strains and Russia has been pushing additional into Ukrainian territory simply as US assist for Ukraine is tangled in home US political debates.

A White House official informed Reuters that the United States had no plans to ship troops to battle in Ukraine, neither had been there plans to ship NATO troops to battle in Ukraine.

Putin casts the United States and its allies as a crumbling empire that wishes to destroy Russia and steal its pure assets. The West casts Putin as a dictator and a killer, and Putin’s Russia as an enemy.

The United States has denied Russian claims that it needs to destroy Russia however Biden earlier this month known as Putin a ‘loopy SOB’ and US sources have stated that Russia is planning to place a nuclear weapon in house.