Russian spy chief calls Macron's comments about NATO soldiers in Ukraine dangerous

MOSCOW (Reuters) - French President Emmanuel Macron's comments on possibly sending NATO soldiers to Ukraine are pushing the world to the brink of nuclear war, Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) chief was quoted as saying on Tuesday.

Last week, Macron opened the door to European nations sending troops to Ukraine, although he cautioned that there was no consensus at this stage. The United States and key European allies subsequently said they had no plans to send ground troops to Ukraine.

"This shows the high degree of irresponsibility of Europe's leaders today, in this case the president of France,"Russian news agencies quoted SVR Director Sergei Naryshkin as telling a Russian television interviewer.

"This is, of course, sad to see, to observe and to understand that the ability of current elites in Europe and the North Atlantic to negotiate is at a very low level.

"It is more and more rare that they demonstrate any common sense at all. But these statements are extremely dangerous. They are already taking us to the brink of nuclear war."

After hosting a conference of some 20 European countries last week, Macron acknowledged there was no consensus on sending troops from Western countries to Ukraine, but said the subject could not be ruled out to ensure that "Russia does not win".

(Reporting by Maxim Rodionov and Ron Popeski; Editing by Alison Williams)