Russia-NATO clash inevitable if West sends troops to Ukraine: Kremlin

A direct confrontation between Russia and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) will be inevitable if Western nations decide to send troops to Ukraine, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Tuesday, reported Xinhua.

Peskov's comments come amid statements made by French President Emmanuel Macron during a conference in Paris on Monday, where a group of European leaders discussed ways to bolster Western support for Ukraine.

Macron noted that while there was no official consensus among European leaders, the possibility of sending Western troops to Ukraine "should not be ruled out," adding that the West will do everything to ensure Russia does not win the ongoing conflict.

"In this case, we would need to talk not about the likelihood, but about the inevitability (of a clash with NATO)," Peskov said while responding to a question on the potential deployment of NATO troops to Ukraine.

A number of countries are guided by "a fairly sober assessment" of the potential dangers of such actions, he said.