Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that any deployment of European troops to Ukraine would amount to “a war against Russia”, while insisting that Moscow does not threaten Europe.
Speaking from New Delhi, where he is attending a BRICS summit, Putin said European leaders were considering how troops could be sent to Ukrainian territory. According to Russian news agencies, he said such a move would mean war with Russia.
At the same time, Putin rejected the idea that Russia posed a threat to European countries. He said Moscow had no intention of threatening Europe and no reason to come into conflict with it.
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Putin also accused European leaders of frightening their populations with what he called an imaginary Russian threat. He said that threat “does not exist and never has existed.”
Since sending troops into Ukraine in February 2022, Russia has consistently portrayed any deployment of Western forces on Ukrainian soil as a red line that must not be crossed.
The prospect of European troops being sent to Ukraine has been discussed for several years among European leaders, but it has never been put into practice.
