THE deployment of peacekeepers to historical Russian lands would risk World War III, Russian security council Secretary Sergey Shoigu warned in an interview with the Tass news agency today.

Mr Shoigu said that plans by the so-called “coalition of the willing” to put boots on the ground in Ukraine under the guise of peacekeepers “may lead to a direct confrontation between Nato and Russia or even cause WWIII further down the road.”