President Vladimir Putin warned Europe on Friday that sending any troops to help Ukraine would mean an escalation of the conflict and “war with Russia.”
UPI reports Putin laid out his stark warning while speaking to reporters at the BRICS summit in New Delhi.
“Now, they say they are thinking of how to deploy troops to Ukraine,” he told reporters, as quoted by state-run news agency TASS as seen by UPI. “This would mean a war with Russia.”
The outlet notes Moscow’s caution to the rest of Europe follows French President Emmanuel Macron who one week ago said 26 countries including the UK had pledged to support sending troops to Ukraine in a peacekeeping mission to provide postwar guarantees.
“The day the conflict stops, the security guarantees will be deployed,” Macron told the media.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov reiterated the Russian president’s position on Saturday, UPI further reported.
“It’s not a red line, but Russia’s position that has been conveyed to the whole world, primarily to Europeans, in an extremely specific and clear manner,” Peskov told reporters.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the country had been hit by nearly 500 Russian attack drones throughout Saturday.
Three civilians and dozens more were injured in the Russian assault.
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