Russia warns of conflict with NATO if coalition troops join Ukraine

Sweden, Poland and the Czech Republic have distanced themselves from the French president's statement Emmanuel Macron, who said there were no “no consensus” for sending Western troops to Ukraine, but “nothing should be excluded”

“The very fact of discussing the possibility of sending specific contingents to Ukraine from NATO countries is a very important new element”, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters when he was asked about Macro's comments.

Asked by journalists what the risks of a direct Russian conflict would be - NATO if coalition members sent their troops to fight in Ukraine, Peskov said that “would have to talk not about probability, but about inevitability (of a direct conflict)”.

French officials are concerned that there has been no single galvanising Western force to respond to Vladimir Putin, who put his economy on such an effective war basis, and inadequate practical responses had been displayed from the West.

Ukrainian forces report lack of weapons and ammunition, as a heavy deadlock gives way to Russian profits.