MAGAS, March 7. /TASS/. Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolay Patrushev has attributed French President Emmanuel Macron's statement regarding the possibility of sending NATO forces to Ukraine to the failure of Kiev’s counter-offensive and the successful actions of the Russian army in the special military operation.

"The collective West is trying to push ahead with its unrealistic plans for inflicting a strategic defeat on our country in Ukraine using the neo-Nazi terrorist regime. By continuing to provide large-scale military and military-technical assistance, the West is actually participating in the armed conflict," Patrushev said at a meeting in Magas on national security issues in the regions of the North Caucasus Federal District.

"In connection with the failure of the hyped Ukrainian counteroffensive and the successful actions of the Russian Armed Forces, French President Macron, following the February 26 conference in Paris on Ukraine did not rule out the possibility of sending NATO military contingents to Ukraine. He said the Western countries intend to do everything necessary to prevent Russia from winning in Ukraine," Patrushev pointed out.

US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin expressed confidence at a congressional hearing that if Ukraine lost, NATO would go to war with Russia, Patrushev noted.

"The Russian president in his message to the Federal Assembly recalled of the fate of all those who sent their contingents to our country and warned that now the consequences for possible intruders would be much more tragic and that Russia has weapons that can hit targets on their territory," Patrushev recalled.