Ukraine welcomes West's discussion of direct intervention, Russia warns against it
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Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said the discussion of sending troops to Ukraine shows an awareness in Europe of the risk posed by Russia.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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KYIV - A senior Ukrainian official on Feb 27 welcomed talk of European nations sending troops to Ukraine, but the Kremlin said a conflict between Russia and Nato would become inevitable if European members of the alliance sent in troops to fight.
French President Emmanuel Macron raised the possibility
"This shows, firstly, an absolute awareness of the risks posed to Europe by a militaristic, aggressive Russia," Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said, in a written comment on Mr Macron's statement.
Some 20 European leaders gathered in Paris on Feb 26 to send Russian President Vladimir Putin a message of European resolve on Ukraine and counter the Kremlin's narrative that Russia is bound to win a war now in its third year.
"The opening of a discussion on the possibility of direct support of Ukraine by armed forces should be seen as a desire to set the right accents, to highlight the risks more clearly," Mr Podolyak added.
He said it was important at this stage to accelerate the delivery of military equipment to Ukraine.
Asked about Mr Macron's remarks, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters: "The very fact of discussing the possibility of sending certain contingents to Ukraine from Nato countries is a very important new element."
Asked what the risks of a direct Russia-Nato conflict would be if Nato members sent their troops to fight in Ukraine, Mr Peskov said: "In that case, we would need to talk not about the probability, but about the inevitability (of a direct conflict)."
A White House official told Reuters that the United States had no plans to send troops to fight in Ukraine and that there were also no plans to send Nato troops to fight in Ukraine. REUTERS
