Ryabkov To US-'Do Not Send NATO Troops To Ukraine'

State-run RIA reporting a brief comment from Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov saying that "Russia urges the US not to make mistakes with dangerous consequences - no NATO troops in Ukraine". The comments come a fortnight after former NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen stated that if the US does not give Ukraine tangible security guarantees at the NATO summit in Vilnius 11-12 July then some NATO member states led by Poland could be inclined to put their troops on the ground in Ukraine.

• Rasmussen: "If Nato cannot agree on a clear path forward for Ukraine, there is a clear possibility that some countries individually might take action. We know that Poland is very engaged in providing concrete assistance to Ukraine. And I wouldn’t exclude the possibility that Poland would engage even stronger in this context on a national basis and be followed by the Baltic states, maybe including the possibility of troops on the ground. I think the Poles would seriously consider going in and assemble a coalition of the willing if Ukraine doesn’t get anything in Vilnius.”
• NATO troops on the ground would notably raise risks of widening the conflict to involve direct NATO-Russia fighting, in turn increasing the prospect of either the war spreading beyond the borders of Ukraine and Russia or tactical nuclear weapons being utilised by Moscow in a last-ditch defence.