Russia’s spy chief warns Coalition of the Willing could trigger major conflict

Russia’s foreign intelligence chief has warned that plans by the Coalition of the Willing on Ukraine could lead to a large-scale military confrontation.

Sergei Naryshkin, director of Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), told the state news agency that the initiative risked undermining efforts to resolve the war through diplomacy, Caliber.Az reports.

He claimed the coalition was seeking to derail a peaceful settlement by imposing conditions that Moscow considers unacceptable. According to Naryshkin, such proposals would not address what Russia describes as the root causes of the conflict, but would instead complicate the international situation and increase the risk of escalation.

“These conditions do not eliminate the underlying causes of the Ukrainian crisis,” he said, adding that they could “significantly worsen the international environment and create circumstances for a broad, large-scale military conflict”.

His comments follow reports that French President Emmanuel Macron recently held talks with senior military leaders and the heads of parliamentary parties to discuss the possible deployment of foreign troops to Ukraine. The discussions reportedly focused on the idea of sending forces as part of an international contingent under the banner of a Coalition of the Willing.

According to earlier reports, the proposal could involve around 10,000 troops in total, including up to 6,000 French soldiers, with the participation of British forces also being considered.

By Aghakazim Guliyev