All Western troops in Ukraine will be treated as enemies, Russia’s former leader said
Bounties should be offered for the killing of NATO soldiers if they are deployed in Ukraine to fight against Russian troops, former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has said on Thursday.
In a post on social media, Medvedev lashed out at Kiev’s Western backers, arguing that they are “taking the world for fools” if they believe that sending foreign forces to Ukraine would not lead to dangerous escalation. If NATO soldiers do end up in Ukraine, they will not be limited to non-combat roles, he claimed.
“They will become part of the regular forces that are fighting against us. That is why they will have to be treated only as the enemy,” Medvedev, who currently serves as deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, wrote. “We should take no prisoners! The highest rewards must be given out for every killed NATO soldier.”
Russian businessmen and activists have previously set bounties for the destruction of Western-made tanks in Ukraine.
An idea of potential NATO boots on the ground in Ukraine was repeatedly floated by French President Emmanuel Macron, who argued that “all options are possible.” He stressed that Paris has no such plans, however.
During a rare phone conversation between defense chiefs on Wednesday, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu warned his French counterpart, Sebastien Lecornu, that sending French troops to Ukraine would have disastrous consequences for Paris.
Moscow has repeatedly warned that NATO troops deployment to Ukraine would put the bloc on the brink of a full-blown conflict with Russia. President Vladimir Putin warned earlier that it would be “one step shy of a full-scale World War III.”