MOSCOW, September 14. /TASS/. Any foreign military contingent potentially deployed to Ukraine will be a legitimate target for the Russian army, Russian foreign ministry’s Ambassador at Large on issues of the Kiev regime’s crimes, Rodion Miroshnik, told TASS.

"Flooding Ukraine with weapons and deploying foreign contingents there in no way can promote conflict settlement, in no way can reduce military threats. Because such things require the president’s statements when he says that foreign contingents are unacceptable in Ukraine in any format. First, this will be unnecessary, i.e. they are not needed as they have no practical significance. This is only an attempt to control this territory. And second, they are absolutely legitimate goals," he said.

"So, no one is going to meet these structures with any gratitude. They will receive a concrete military response, especially, bearing in mind the fact that in those quantities or specifications the West is talking about they will not be able to influence the situation," Miroshnik said.

Security guarantees

When asked whether Moscow thinks that the five permanent members of the UN Security Council could be part of future accords on Ukraine, Miroshnik said that the matter is not in which countries could serve as guarantors of a potential agreement but in that all parties to this process should have potential security guarantees. "Russia, a state under the name of Ukraine and, probably, European countries as well. Because now a range of European leaders are travelling across Europe shouting, ‘Russia is attacking! Russian is threatening us!’ Russia has never threatened European countries, at least at this period in history. European countries have been flooding Ukraine with weapons to use it as a battering ram against Russia. We saw no adverse processes, so, such guarantees should be granted to all those who are involved in this process," he stressed.

He noted that some European countries and Ukraine are seeking to misinterpret the notion of security guarantees, including by adding such parameters as an unlimited army, foreign contingents, and so on. "This is a flow of fantasies of European and Ukrainian radicals and hawks who are simply seeking to twist security guarantees or exclude the key provision advanced by Russia, namely the demilitarization. It means that the major problem is the threat from Ukraine. So, any actions geared to reinstate or preserve the treat to Russia from Ukraine are unacceptable," he said, adding that security guarantees are basically needed so that countries could feel calm, develop normally and live in an atmosphere of good neighborly relations.