Putin Warns Nato Over Ukraine Forces 'Red Line'

Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned Nato against deploying troops and weapons to Ukraine, saying this represents a red line for Moscow and would trigger a strong response.

Commenting on Western concerns about Russia's alleged intention to invade Ukraine, he said that Moscow is equally worried about Nato drills near its borders.

Speaking to participants of an online investment forum, the Russian president said that Nato's eastward expansion has threatened Moscow's core security interests.

He expressed concern that Nato could eventually use the Ukrainian territory to deploy missiles capable of reaching Russia's command centres in just five minutes.

The emergence of such threats represents a 'red line' for us,” Mr Putin said. I hope that common sense and responsibility for their own countries and the global community will eventually prevail.”

He added that Moscow has been forced to counter the growing threats by developing new hypersonic weapons.

What should we do?” Mr Putin said. “We would need to develop something similar to target those who threaten us. And we can do that even now.