“The participation of the French military in the Ukrainian conflict will de jure make France a party and will increase manyfold the risk of a collision of two nuclear powers on the battlefield,” Studennikov said in an interview with the Sputnik news agency.
The diplomat recalled that Russia has repeatedly warned France that in the event of sending troops to Ukraine, Moscow’s reaction will go far beyond the political level, and added that the statements made by President of France Emmanuel Macron about the possible sending its troops to Ukraine does not find “broad support” among its allies in the European Union and NATO, and provokes a “rejection” from the significant majority of the French population.
Commenting on the possible participation of French mercenaries in the hostilities, he pointed out that according to data from the Russian Ministry of Defense made public in March of this year, a total of 147 French citizens have died in combat in Ukraine since February 2022.
In early May, Macron said in an interview with The Economist that he does not rule out sending troops to Ukraine if he should receive Kiev’s request and if Russia breaks the front line.
And according to UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron declared during his visit to Kiev in early May that Ukraine has the right to use British weapons against targets inside Russia.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov described these statements as a “direct escalation” that “may pose a danger to European security.”
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