“They Are All Playing with Fire”: Peskov

Western countries are playing with fire by discussing the possibility of sending troops to Ukraine, said Dmitry Peskov, press secretary of the President of Russia, to journalists. He deemed it dangerous that such a proposal emerged from French President Emmanuel Macron.

Peskov noted that Moscow has been hearing “a large number of contradictory statements” from the West regarding the deployment of NATO troops to Ukraine, but emphasized that “the mere fact of this discussion is dangerous.” He remarked that Macron's statements, suggesting “we need to start discussions on this issue,” come against a backdrop of arguments that the West needs to ensure “Russia suffers a strategic defeat.”

“They are all playing with fire,” Peskov emphasized, adding that together with German officers discussing strikes against Russia, all this is leading to “further degradation of the situation.” “Of course, this is extremely irresponsible behavior,” the Kremlin representative assessed the situation.

Peskov highlighted that “for Moscow, the main thing is to achieve its goals,” and that “Russia is an open country for political and diplomatic options to achieve them.”