The European Commission rebuked Russian President Vladimir Putin's threats to Western troops should they be deployed in Ukraine, while welcoming his support for the country's potential EU accession.

On Tuesday, Putin said that Russia "never objected to" Ukraine's EU bid. " As for NATO, however, that is a different matter."

In June, former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev, now a member of Russia's Security Council, said the bloc posed a security threat to Moscow and Russia was against Ukraine joining the EU.

"It's very welcome that President Putin sees the place of Ukraine in the European Union," Commission spokesperson Paula Pinho told reporters on Friday.

On Thursday, 26 countries in the “coalition of the willing," offered security guarantees to Ukraine after a potential cea

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