Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev told Euronews that any further introduction of ground forces to Syria will end in "a full-fledged, long war."
He was responding to US Secretary of State John Kerry's comments that more troops could be deployed to Syria should the current peace talks fail.
"These are futile words, he should not have said that for a simple reason: if all he wants is a protracted war, he can carry out ground operations and anything else. But don't try to frighten anyone," said Medvedev. "Let me reiterate that no one is interested in a new war, and a ground operation is a full-fledged, long war."