The Kremlin has warned on Tuesday that any French military units who are sent to Ukraine will be “priority targets.”
The Russian chief of Foreign Intelligence, Sergei Naryshkin said that if Emmanuel Macron sends troops to Ukraine then they will be “legitimate targets” for Russia.
Macron warned allies this month that we are “approaching a moment in our Europe” and he urged allies “not to be a coward” as now is the time to step up to the mark in Ukraine.
Macron said last week that “all option are possible” in Ukraine, but “we’re not in that situation today.”
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TASS news agency reported that Naryshkin said, “It [a French contingent] will become a priority and legitimate target for attacks by the Russian armed forces.
“This means that the fate of all Frenchmen who have ever come to the territory of the Russian world with a sword would await it.”
The Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said on Tuesday afternoon that if Macron sends military units to Ukraine this risks an escalation that Europe will not want, he added, “to be avoided at any cost.”
The French ground army chief of staff General Pierre Schill has published a statement on Tuesday that his forces “is ready” for “the toughest engagements.”
In an op-ed in the French newspaper Le Monde, Schill said, “However the international situation may evolve, French people can be certain that their soldiers stand ready to respond.”
“To protect itself from any attack and to defend its interests, the French army is preparing for even the toughest engagements,” he added.
He also quoted the Latin adage “si vis pacem, para bellum,” meaning, “if you want peace, prepare for war.”
The Kremlin has warned that if European troops are sent to Ukraine that it will be “inevitable” there will be conflict with NATO.
On Monday Putin directly threatened the West warning that we are “one step away” from “World War Three.”
Reuters asked Putin over the French President’s comments which could risk conflict between NATO and Russia.
“Everything is possible in the modern world.
“It is clear to everyone, that this will be one step away from a full-scale World War Three. I think hardly anyone is interested in this.”
The Russian dictator said that they are fully aware that NATO personnel are on the ground in the battlefields of Ukraine and that they have intercepted French and English being spoken.
Putin added, “There is nothing good in this, first of all for them, because they are dying there and in large numbers.”
