Kyiv: Vladimir Putin has said any direct clash of NATO troops with Russia would lead to a "global catastrophe".
"The introduction of troops into a direct confrontation with the Russian army is a very dangerous step that could lead to a global catastrophe", he told a news conference in Kazakhstan today. "I hope that those who are saying this are smart enough not to take such steps."
Putin has warned he would use nuclear weapons to defend Russian territory after annexing four regions of Ukraine last month, a move which the UN this week condemned.
Meanwhile, Russia has promised free accommodation to residents of Ukraine's partially occupied Kherson region who want to evacuate to Russia, a sign that Ukrainian military gains along the war's southern front are worrying the Kremlin.
The Moscow-installed leader of Kherson, one of four regions illegally annexed by Russian President Vladimir Putin last month, asked the Kremlin to organise an evacuation from four cities, citing incessant shelling by Ukrainian forces.
Vladimir Saldo, the head of the Moscow-appointed regional administration, said a decision was made to evacuate Kherson residents to the Russian regions of Rostov, Krasnodar and Stavropol, as well as
to the Crimean Peninsula, which Moscow annexed from Ukraine in 2014.
"We, residents of the Kherson region, of course know that Russia doesn't abandon their own, and Russia always offers a hand, Saldo said on Thursday.
Russia has characterised the movement of Ukrainians to Russia or Russian-controlled territory as voluntary, but in many cases those are the only evacuation routes residents of the occupied areas can or are allowed to take. Reports have surfaced that some Ukrainians were forcibly deported to filtration camps with harsh conditions. In addition, an Associated Press investigation found that Russian officials deported thousands of Ukrainian children — some orphaned, others living with foster families or ininstitutions — to be raised as Russian.