"Means war with Russia": Putin warns Europe against sending troops to Ukraine

New Delhi: Amid the ongoing conflict with Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin warned European nations against sending troops to Kyiv, clarifying that the nation does not threaten European countries.

Speaking to reporters in New Delhi on the sidelines of the 2026 BRICS Summit, Putin affirmed that sending troops to Ukraine will mean "war with Russia."

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He said, "There is no such threat, and there has never been. We are not threatening European countries, nor are we going to threaten them. Why would we? No one seems to even consider that we have no grounds for any conflict with Europe. All issues were settled as a result of the Second World War. And what happened later, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, was done with the consent of the Russian Federation as the successor of the Soviet Union. Everything that runs counter to those arrangements runs counter to our interests and does not comply with the fundamental principles of international law and the UN Charter."

"Now they are talking about how they are thinking about bringing troops to the territory of Ukraine. This means war with Russia," the Russian President added.

The war between Russia and Ukraine began in February 2022, and has entered its fifth year. While several European nations have extended support to Ukraine, the US has attempted a mediator role, holding talks between the two nations.

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Earlier this month, US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law of US President Donald Trump, Jared Kushner, met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy after their visit to Moscow.

Putin is in India to attend the 18th BRICS Summit. On Friday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi held talks with Vladimir Putin in New Delhi ahead of the formal opening of the summit and discussed closer trade ties, including implementation of the Programme for Economic Cooperation 2030, as well as cooperation in infrastructure, energy, technology, defence and culture.

The meeting took place on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit and was the second meeting between the two leaders in less than two weeks following the meeting at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit in Bishkek on August 31.