Mykhailo
Podolyak, a political adviser to Ukraine's President Volodymyr
Zelenskiy, speaks during an interview with Reuters, amid Russia's attack
on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine October 6, 2022. REUTERS/Anna
Voitenko/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
Ukraine welcomes West's discussion of direct intervention, Russia warns against it
KYIV,
Feb 27 (Reuters) - A senior Ukrainian official on Tuesday 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 on Monday of European nations sending troops to Ukraine, but cautioned that there was no consensus.
"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 Macron's statement.
Some
20 European leaders gathered in Paris on Monday 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," Podolyak added.
He said it was important at this stage to accelerate the delivery of military equipment to Ukraine.
Asked
about 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, 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.
Reporting by Reuters, and by Pavel Polityuk in Kyiv; Editing by Kevin Liffey and Timothy Heritage