Russia: Proposal to send international peacekeepers ‘reckless’

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Wednesday slammed the idea of international peacekeepers being sent to Ukraine, following a proposal from Ukrainian neighbor, Poland.

“It would be a very reckless and extremely dangerous decision,” Peskov said when asked about the Polish proposal to send peacekeepers into Ukraine amid Russia’s invasion of the country, Reuters reported.

Poland last Friday said that it would submit a formal proposal at the next NATO summit that would suggest carrying out a peacekeeping mission in Ukraine, the news outlet noted.

Peskov reportedly warned on Wednesday that interaction between Russian forces and NATO “could have clear consequences that would be hard to repair.”

Jaroslaw Kaczynski, Poland’s ruling party leader, called for a peace mission last week, Reuters noted.

“I think that it is necessary to have a peace mission — NATO, possibly some wider international structure — but a mission that will be able to defend itself, which will operate on Ukrainian territory,” he reportedly said at the time.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov echoed Peskov’s sentiments on Wednesday in remarks he gave before staff and students of Moscow State Institute of International Relations, according to Reuters.

“This will be the direct clash between the Russian and NATO armed forces that everyone has not only tried to avoid but said should not take place in principle,” he reportedly said.