Moscow\/Berlin, Feb 27 (EFE).- Russia on Tuesday sternly warned of a potential direct conflict if NATO were to deploy troops in Ukraine, a possibility suggested by French President Macron but rejected by Germany and other European nations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Macron’s “nothing can be ruled out” statement ignited a debate over whether NATO and its European members were indeed considering such a move, as the Russian-Ukrainian conflict enters its third year with no resolution in sight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While many European countries dismissed the idea, the Kremlin cautioned that such action would escalate the conflict, potentially leading to a direct confrontation between Russia and NATO.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe very fact of discussing the possibility of sending certain contingents to Ukraine from NATO countries is a very important new element,\u201d Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters in response to Macron\u2019s remarks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIn that case, we would need to talk not about the probability, but about the inevitability (of a direct conflict with NATO),\u201d he said in reply to questions about a direct Russia-NATO conflict if the Atlantic Alliance sent its troops to fight in Ukraine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Peskov said NATO member countries must “assess” whether the conflict with Russia “corresponds to their interests and the interests of their people.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Macron said on Monday that defeating Russia in Ukraine was \u201cindispensable to security and stability in Europe,\u201d as Kyiv made urgent pleas for more weapons from its European allies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThere is no consensus today to send, in an official, endorsed manner, troops on the ground. But in terms of dynamics, nothing can be ruled out,\u201d Macron said, citing how two years ago, no one thought about sending fighter jets to Ukraine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe will do everything that we must so that Russia does not win.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Tuesday that sending European or NATO soldiers to fight in Ukraine was not on the table.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“What was agreed earlier\u2026also applies to the future, namely that there will be no soldiers on Ukrainian soil sent there by European states or NATO states,” Scholz told reporters during a visit to Freiburg.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt is important to regularly reassure each other over this again and again, and there has been an understanding on this is, in my view, a very, very good and very important step forward,” he said, a day after attending the conference on Ukraine in Paris, where Macron made the controversial statements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On Monday, the chancellor explained his reluctance to send Taurus long-range cruise missiles to Ukraine because such a move would involve the risk of Germany becoming directly involved in the conflict.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Germany is the European country that most supports Ukraine militarily. It will continue to be that way. But it is clear that we will not become part of the conflict, neither directly nor indirectly,” Scholz wrote on the X social network.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Several government leaders, including those from Hungary, Poland, and the Czech Republic, also rejected the notion of sending soldiers to fight in Ukraine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Kremlin has consistently asserted that the conflict in Ukraine is not solely against the neighboring country’s army but also against the NATO “war machine.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Russian President Vladimir Putin has accused the United States of prolonging the conflict by supplying heavy weapons to Kyiv, aiming for “the strategic defeat of Russia.” EFE<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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