ISTANBUL

The Kremlin on Tuesday said that a conflict between Russia and NATO is “inevitable” if the West deploys troops to Ukraine.

“In this case, we need to talk not about probability, but about inevitability, and that's how we evaluate it,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters at a press briefing in Moscow, in response to a question on the likelihood of a direct conflict between Russia and NATO if Western troops are sent to Ukraine.

Peskov said that NATO countries must also evaluate the potential consequences of such actions, and realize that this is "absolutely not in the interests of these countries."

Peskov further said several countries in the West possess a “fairly sober assessment” of the consequences and potential dangers of deployment of troops to Ukraine, and that there is no consensus on this matter.

He also said that Moscow is aware of the other elements of French President Emmanuel Macron's speech, including those regarding the need to inflict a “strategic defeat” on Russia, adding that the idea of sending Western troops to Ukraine is a “new element.”

On Monday, Macron said during a meeting on Ukraine in the French capital Paris that sending troops to Ukraine is an option that should not be "ruled out."