Putin Issues Major Threat to European Countries — This Is a Serious Escalation

It’s been four-and-a-half years since Russia invaded Ukraine.

Many of us thought this war would be ended a long time ago. But instead of it wrapping up under the second term of President Donald Trump, it continues to rage with no clear end in sight.

That is partly because Putin is extremely stubborn and is clinging to power. As RedState colleague Ward Clark explained today, there is plenty of reasons to doubt that the upcoming Russian elections will be free and fair.

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That being said, Russia would likely have an easier time transitioning to a normal member of the international community (whatever that is) if NATO and Russia would just get along.

After all, the Cold War is over, right? Right?

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If true, that would effectively be a declaration of war, no matter how you slice it. And the Russians aren’t mincing words about it.

President Vladimir Putin on Friday warned European countries that sending troops into Ukraine would mean “war with Russia.”

Putin was speaking to reporters at the BRICS summit in New Delhi when he issued his stark warning.

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UPI gave some helpful background to understanding the situation: European leaders continue to back Ukraine as an ally, or even as if it were a member of NATO — even though it’s not.

“Last week, French President Emmanuel Macron said 26 countries had pledged to support sending troops to Ukraine in a peacekeeping mission to provide postwar guarantees,” UPI reported.

“The day the conflict stops, the security guarantees will be deployed,” Macron told reporters.

This is all taking place among an ongoing tit-for-tat between Putin and Zelensky. The Ukrainian president said that the country had been hit with nearly 500 drone strikes this weekend.

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“The Russians are burning warehouses with food and gas stations, pharmaceutical facilities and ordinary passenger trains, residential buildings and civilian businesses,” Zelensky said on X. “Just in the past few days, they have struck a steel plant owned by an Indian business, an American company that produced sunflower oil, and a Polish company that manufactured plumbing fixtures.

“Russian attacks have targeted truck parking lots, ports, shopping malls, and energy infrastructure.”

The Russians are making it clear that they would not tolerate NATO countries’ boots on the ground without a peace agreement.

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Let’s hope for the world’s sake that both the Russia-Ukraine and the Iran War can be ended in the near future.

Wars are definitely something that many Americans did not foresee continuing to be a problem under the second Trump administration.

(*) Full article: https://redstate.com/kyle-becker/2026/09/13/putin-issues-stark-warning-to-european-countries-this-is-a-major-escalation-n2206881