The statement came after the Ukrainian military admitted that Russian forces were making progress in their offensive in the northeastern Kharkiv region.
“If the West wants to fight for Ukraine on the battlefield, Russia is ready for it,” said Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, as reported by the state agency RIA.
The Kremlin said last week that sending NATO troops into Ukraine would potentially be extremely dangerous and that Moscow was closely following a Ukrainian petition calling for such an intervention. The statement came after the Ukrainian military admitted that Russian forces were making progress in their offensive in the northeastern Kharkiv region.
Russian forces are trying to break through in that region, which has raised alarm in Kiev and among Western allies about a potential major offensive on the city of Kharkiv, the second largest in Ukraine, located only thirty kilometers from the Russian border.
“The enemy is currently achieving tactical successes,” the Ukrainian General Staff announced this morning.
After the conquest of several villages in the Kharkiv region, fighting is currently taking place near the town of Vovchansk, located only five kilometers from the Russian border, DPA writes.
Ukraine claims that Russia is recording heavy losses, but that despite this it is sending numerous forces to Vovchansk, towards which five battalions are moving.
Russia had already occupied Vovchansk at the beginning of the war. It withdrew after the Ukrainian offensive in the fall of 2022. At that time, about 3.5 thousand people still lived in the city, Ukraine announced at the time.
Russia launched another breakthrough towards the Kharkiv region on May 10. In the last two days, it conquered nine villages, claims the Russian Ministry of Defense.
