VIENNA, May 27./TASS/. NATO countries have no unity as to the sending of military to Ukraine, but this scenario cannot be ruled out, Konstantin Gavrilov, head of Russia’s delegation to the Vienna talks on military security and arms control, told TASS.
"It is important to understand: this is not NATO's consensus position, but we cannot generally rule out this scenario materializing. An eventual clash between the armies of Russia and NATO is the path to a great tragedy that could affect all of humanity. Brussels should realize that it will not be able to cross this escalation line unnoticed," he said.
According to the diplomat, against the backdrop of Kiev's military failures and the advance of the Russian Armed Forces, NATO states are increasingly realizing the impossibility of inflicting a ‘strategic defeat’ on Russia.
"Under these circumstances, we regard the discussions getting more active about NATO boots on Ukrainian black soil as a futile attempt to put pressure on Russia, to drag our state into an arms race, to force it to give up on achieving the goals of the special military operation," Gavrilov added.
In his opinion, the discussion about the potential deployment of national contingents from NATO countries to Ukraine is "nothing but bluff".
"They are well aware that such a decision will be solely the responsibility of specific states, while Article 5 of the Washington collective defense treaty (under which in the event of an armed attack against a NATO member state, the rest of the alliance’s countries can act to help the affected party - TASS) cannot be engaged here. It is not surprising that under these conditions some radical political circles in Europe are trying to lobby for the deployment of a NATO contingent to Ukraine," Gavrilov said.