MOSCOW, April 24. /TASS/. Any deployment of peacekeepers to historical Russian lands would risk a third world war, Russian Security Council Secretary Sergey Shoigu warned in an interview with TASS.
The senior Russian security official pointed to plans by the "coalition of the willing" to put boots on the ground in Ukraine under the guise of peacekeepers. "Sensible politicians in Europe understand that the implementation of this scenario may lead to a direct confrontation between NATO and Russia or even cause WWIII further down the road," he argued.
According to Shoigu, rather, the notion of `peacekeepers’ conceals the pursuit of control over Ukraine and its mineral resources. "It would be more correct to call such troops invaders or occupants," he insisted.
"For these would be troops from those NATO countries whose presence Russia opposed even prior to the special military operation," Shoigu continued. Also, he suspected that potential `peacekeepers’ would support the Nazi regime, persecution of Orthodox believers and the campaign to deprive the Russian-speaking population in Ukraine of the right to speak their native language and keep their culture and traditions.
"This would not be a peacekeeping mission," the Russian Security Council secretary concluded, saying that this could be why "the real global majority has shown little inclination to join similar `peacekeeping" initiatives."