RT reported that on March 16, Russian Deputy Chairman of the Security Council - Mr. Dmitry Medvedev - warned that the deployment of "peacekeeping forces" in Ukraine by NATO member states would lead to a full-scale war. Mr. Medvedev emphasized that this war will take place between NATO and Russia.
In an article on social network X, Medvedev, who was once the President of Russia, stated that British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron were pretending not to know the serious consequences of the plan.
Mr. Medvedev stated that the UK, France and countries in the US-led military alliance have been repeatedly reminded by Russia that peacekeeping forces must not come from NATO countries. However, in reality, member states will mobilize tens of thousands of soldiers to Ukraine.
That means war with NATO, the former president said.
According to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov's previous argument, the NATO military deployment plan to Ukraine, although under the name of "peacekeeping forces", still means "official and public" direct participation in the conflict with Russia.
Commenting on the possibility of NATO deploying troops to Ukraine, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said last month that this move would be completely unacceptable to us, due to the consequences for Russias national security.
Earlier in March, at a summit between Europe's top leaders, Prime Minister Starmer said that the UK and France were ready to lead a "voluntary alliance" to provide military support to Ukraine, including soldiers and military equipment.
Speaking after the conference, Mr. Starmer noted that ready members will still proactively promote the plan and urgently implement it despite many countries in the bloc not participating in the contribution.
On the French side, President Macron said that Western troops will only visit Ukraine when the situation on the ground is safe, while Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni stressed that this had never been included in the agenda.
Last week, Danish Foreign Minister Theo Lokke Rasmussen affirmed that Denmark is ready to participate if a ceasefire in Ukraine requires the presence of the European army.
