European troop deployment in Ukraine would be 'war against Russia': Putin

MOSCOW, Sept 12: President Vladimir Putin warned on Friday that any deployment of European troops to Ukraine would amount to "a war against Russia" and said Moscow did not "pose a threat".

"At the moment, they say they are considering how to send troops onto Ukrainian territory. That means a war against Russia," Russian news agencies quoted him as saying, referring to European leaders.

"We are not threatening and have no intention of threatening European countries. Why would we? No one even realises that we have no reason to enter into conflict with Europe," he said.

He said European leaders "are frightening their populations with an imaginary threat coming from Russia".

"This threat does not exist and has never existed," he added.

Russia launched a large-scale offensive against Ukraine in February 2022 and has repeatedly said the deployment of Western troops on Ukrainian territory was a red line that must not be crossed.

Such a deployment has been discussed by European leaders for several years but has never materialised.

Russia justifies its assault on Ukraine citing what is says is a threat posed by NATO's expansion to its borders, the Western military alliance that Kyiv aspires to join.

German security officials suspect a member of Russian military intelligence helped plan an attempted "hybrid attack" involving an explosive-laden drone at an airport last month, a report said Saturday.

According to the Welt Am Sonntag newspaper, the officials believe a Russian called Oleg Le, from the GRU intelligence agency, was the logistics coordinator for the Leipzig airport plot.

The paper also said authorities had identified a second suspect, a Belarusian national named Andrei Ka.

These findings formed the basis for Berlin's decision to blame Russia for the incident, and announce measures including the closure of the Russian consulate in Bonn and a Russian cultural centre in Berlin, the paper said.

Russia has denied any involvement.

Investigators believe that Le arrived in Germany from Turkey and departed to Serbia from Berlin airport, and is now thought to be back in Russia, the report said.

Direct flights between Russia and Germany have been suspended since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Authorities knew at the time of his arrival that Le had links to the GRU, but he was not placed under surveillance after entering the country, the Welt said.

It said they identified the suspects from traces of DNA found at the airport.
The explosives used in the incident could have been brought to Germany hidden in trucks via Bulgaria and Serbia, the report said.�" AFP