Putin warns European NATO troops in Ukraine means war with Russia

Russian President Vladimir Putin warned on Friday that any deployment of European NATO troops to Ukraine would mean a direct war with Russia. Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in New Delhi, Putin stated that plans by European leaders to send forces to Ukrainian territory would cross a major red line for Moscow. "At the moment, they say they are considering how to send troops onto Ukrainian territory. That means a war against Russia," Putin said, according to Russian news agencies. He reiterated that Russia does not pose a threat to European nations and has no intention of entering into a conflict with them. Putin accused European leaders of frightening their populations with what he described as an imaginary Russian threat. "This threat does not exist and has never existed," he added. The Russian president argued that Western governments are pushing Europe closer to a direct confrontation while their own political and economic troubles stem from systemic mistakes made since the end of the Cold War. He pointed to NATO's eastward expansion and efforts to bring Ukraine into the US-led military bloc as root causes of the ongoing conflict.