Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov made clear after the meeting in Riyadh with the U.S. delegation yesterday that there can be no presence of NATO in Ukraine, even disguised as European “peace-keeping” troops. “We explained to our counterparts today that Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly emphasized that NATO’s takeover of Ukraine would be a direct threat to the interests of Russia and a direct threat to our sovereignty,” Lavrov said, reported TASS.
Lavrov added that he mentioned during the talks “the topic of the potential deployment of armed forces, peacekeepers should the conflict be settled or an agreement is reached. We explained today that the deployment of any troops, any armed forces from NATO countries but under other flags, either the European Union or national flags, changes nothing in this context. For us, of course, this is unacceptable,” he stressed.
