Putin: Deployment of European troops in Ukraine would mean war with Russia

The deployment by European countries of their troops on the territory of Ukraine would mean war with Russia, Russian President Vladimir Putin told reporters.

"Now they are saying that they are thinking about how to send troops into the territory of Ukraine. That means war with Russia," he noted, speaking about the behavior of the Europeans.

According to Putin, the population of Europe realizes that its leaders are pushing their countries toward war with Russia, and this also explains the recent election results in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt, where the far-right party "Alternative for Germany" won.

"As I understand it, the citizens of European countries understand what is happening. It seems to me that today's results in the Federal Republic, and the trends of political processes in Europe as a whole, are based on this," Putin pointed out.

The Russian leader said that the elites in Europe today "are frightening their population with an imaginary threat [from] Russia."

"But there is no such threat and there never has been," Putin asserted.
In his words, Russia has no grounds for a conflict with Europe: "We are not threatening and we do not intend to threaten European countries. Why on earth would we? No one even gives a thought to the fact that we have no grounds for any conflict with Europe. All issues were settled by the results of the Second World War."
And what happened after the collapse of the Soviet Union was done with the consent of the Russian Federation, as the successor of the Soviet Union, the head of the Russian state emphasized.
"Everything that contradicts these agreements contradicts our interests and does not correspond to the fundamental principles of international law and the UN Charter. That is what this is all about. And they insist precisely on this — on some kind of changes. But what changes? Do they want to revise the results of the Second World War?" Putin asked.

Source: TASS