WASHINGTON, February 23, 21:24 /ITAR-TASS/ Hypothetical introduction of Russian troops in Ukraine for the alleged purpose of emplacing a government predisposed towards friendship with Russia would be “a grave mistake,” U.S. national security advisor and former ambassador to the UN, Susan Rice, told NBC channel Sunday.

“That would be a grave mistake,” international news agencies quoted her. “It’s not in the interests of Ukraine or of Russia or of Europe or of the United States to see a country split. It’s in nobody’s interest to see violence return and the situation escalate.”

She also claimed that there was no inherent contradiction “between a Ukraine that has longstanding historical and cultural ties to Russia and a modern Ukraine that wants to integrate more closely with Europe.”

“This need not be mutually exclusive,” she said.