Moscow (Web Desk): Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned of a “real” risk of nuclear war if the Western countries sent troops to fight in Ukraine.
“Russia will not allow anyone to interfere in its internal affairs,” said Putin during his annual address to the Russian parliament.
“There has been talk about the possibility of sending NATO military contingents to Ukraine. But we remember the fate of those who once sent their contingents to our country’s territory. But now the consequences for possible interventionists will be far more tragic,” Putin said.
“They must realise that we also have weapons that can hit targets on their territory. All this really threatens a conflict with the use of nuclear weapons and the destruction of civilisation. Don’t they get that?”
Putin’s warning comes in the wake of French President Emmanuel Macron’s proposal on Monday of European NATO members sending ground troops to Ukraine. The United States, Germany, the United Kingdom and some other members rejected the suggestion.
But Putin suggested that Western leaders remember the fate of those like Germany’s Adolf Hitler and France’s Napoleon Bonaparte, who unsuccessfully tried to invade his country in the past.