The deployment of European troops to Ukraine would mean the start of a war with Russia, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at the BRICS summit in India while commenting on scenarios being discussed in the West for further involvement in the Ukraine conflict.

Putin noted that European countries are considering the possibility of sending their troops to Ukraine. According to the Russian president, implementing such a scenario would mean a direct military conflict with Russia.

Putin also said Western countries have spent several years consistently trying to weaken Russia and force it into submission but have failed to achieve their goal. In his assessment, terrorists in the Caucasus were previously used for this purpose, while the West is now acting through what he called the neo-Nazi regime in Ukraine.

Speaking about the situation in Europe, Putin attributed current developments to systemic mistakes by Western globalists in economics, politics and security. He said European elites are pushing their countries toward confrontation with Russia despite there being no grounds for such a conflict.

Putin recalled that after the 2014 coup in Kyiv, the West set itself the goal of bringing Ukraine into NATO. He also said European elites are now frightening their own populations with what he described as an imaginary Russian threat in order to divert attention from domestic problems.