MOSCOW, February 27. /TASS/. The possible presence of British military forces on the territory of Ukraine constitutes a legitimate target for the Russian armed forces, Russian Ambassador to London, Andrey Kelin, said in an interview with the Rossiya-1 TV channel.
"If such [British] forces appear [in Ukraine], then that will be for us a legitimate target for strikes," the diplomat noted.
Earlier, the UK Defense Ministry reported that a headquarters unit of the so-called multinational forces for Ukraine, consisting of 70 personnel, has begun work as part of preparations for sending troops to Ukrainian territory from the countries which have declared themselves part of the Coalition of the Willing, after the end of the conflict. On February 25, UK Defense Minister John Healey stated that personnel from the British Army and Royal Air Force have begun preparing for deployment in Ukraine after a ceasefire is reached. He explained that ·200 million ($270 million) has already been allocated for these purposes.
Russia has consistently opposed NATO presence in Ukraine. Earlier, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that ensuring Ukraine’s security through "foreign military intervention in some part of Ukrainian territory" would be unacceptable for Russia.