MOSCOW, March 5. /TASS/. French President Emmanuel Macron’s statements about NATO troops in Ukraine reveal the irresponsibility of European leaders, who are pushing the world to the brink of a nuclear war, Director of Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service Sergey Naryshkin said in an interview with the Soloviov Live television channel.
When asked by the host whether such statements are pushing the world to the verge of a nuclear war, he said, "Yes."
"It demonstrates a high level of political responsibility of the current leaders of European countries, in this case, the French president. It is sad to see this, sad to understand that the current European and North Atlantic leaders lack the ability to negotiate and often demonstrate the lack of common sense. That is why such statements are very dangerous," Naryshkin said.
After a conference on Ukraine in Paris on February 26, Macron said that the participants had considered sending ground troops to Ukraine. Although no consensus was reached on this topic, he left the door open to such a scenario in the future. After the conference, most of the participating counties stated that they have no plans to send troops to Ukraine to fight against Russia. French Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne said on the following day that the presence of Western troops in Ukraine could be needed to render certain types of assistance, for instance, in mine clearance operations and training Ukrainian soldiers, but such a presence would not extend their direct participation in the conflict.