The top diplomat warned that if NATO agrees with Poland’s proposal to deploy peacekeepers to Ukraine, the move could trigger a military conflict between the alliance and Moscow.
“Our Polish colleagues have already stated that there will be a NATO summit now, and peacekeepers should be deployed. I hope they understand what is at stake. This will be a direct clash between the Russian and NATO armed forces, which everyone not only wanted to avoid but said that it should never take place in principle,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Wednesday.
The minister also suggested that Warsaw probably wants to create its headquarters in Ukraine’s largest Western city of Lvov and remain there after the conflict is over. “Why not, they had such thoughts, and not only thoughts, this occurred in the past,” Lavrov said. He also warned the Baltic states against sending their “little battalions” to fight Russian troops in Ukraine.