The West should take strong action, possibly including sending NATO forces to Ukraine, if Russia tries to annex the eastern part of the country, Czech President Milos Zeman said on Sunday.

“The moment Russia decides to widen its territorial expansion to the eastern part of Ukraine, that is where the fun ends,” Zeman said in a broadcast on Czech public radio.

“There I would plead not only for the strictest EU sanctions, but even for military readiness of the North Atlantic Alliance, like for example NATO forces entering Ukrainian territory,” Zeman said.

Image: Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen at NATO's Steadfast Jazz exercise (photo: NATO)