The deployment of Western troops to Ukraine would be akin to these countries declaring war on Russia, and lead to a catastrophe on a global scale, Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev said.

"Sending their troops to the territory of former Ukraine will mean their direct involvement in the war. We will have to respond to this. And, alas, not on the territory of former Ukraine," he wrote on his Telegram channel.

He added that in this case, Western leaders "won’t be able to hide on Capitol Hill, or in the Elysee Palace, or on 10 Downing Street." "A global catastrophe will ensue," Medvedev concluded.

According to him, the cause of the discussion on dispatching Western troops to Ukraine, launched by French President Emmanuel Macron, is a "shameless calculation for political bonus points."

"Some kind of a total degradation of the ruling class in the West is underway," Medvedev clarified and reiterated that the extent of the catastrophic nature of such a clash was something "[US President John] Kennedy and [Russian leader Nikita] Khrushchev could grasp over 60 years ago." "Yet current immature imbeciles who got to power in the West keep failing to recognize this," he added.