Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev (TASS)

Russia will consider the so-called "NATO peacekeepers" as legitimate targets if they get deployed in Ukraine on the frontline, Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev warned on Friday.

"They will be a legitimate target for our armed forces if they are placed on the front line without the consent of Russia with weapons in their hands and directly threaten us," Medvedev wrote on his Telegram channel.

The top Russian official considered that the West’s real goal is to establish a ceasefire on the front line that is favorable to them.

"It is clear that the so-called NATO peacekeepers are simply going to enter the conflict on the side of our enemies [Ukraine]… Unleash that very third world war, which they so fear when they talk," Medvedev pointed out.

Earlier, NATO Deputy Secretary General Mircea Geoana revealed that the US-led military alliance's aid to Ukraine amounted to approximately $70.8 billion over the previous year.

Emphasizing the geopolitical importance of the war in Ukraine, Geoana said NATO expects the pertinent war with Russia to shape global security for decades to come.

It is noteworthy that back in February, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said NATO countries who are involved in the war in Ukraine are effectively at war with Russia.

During an interview for Sputnik, Lavrov said Russia is at war with NATO in Ukraine as he dubbed the alliance's rhetoric that in Ukraine "we are not fighting, but only arming" Ukraine as "ridiculous".