Russia is warning that Western troops arriving in Ukraine for any reason will be considered “legitimate” targets as Moscow’s bloody invasion continues.
Reports emerged last week that France was planning to send troops to Kyiv to train the Ukrainian military, with Ukraine’s ground forces commander General Oleksandr Syrskyi saying that he had “already signed the documents that will allow the first French instructors to visit.”
On Tuesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said during a press conference that any French military instructors arriving in Ukraine would “absolutely” be targeted by Russian forces regardless of why they were in the country, according to Agence France-Presse.
“Whoever they are labelled as, whether they are members of the French armed forces or are just mercenaries, they represent an absolutely legitimate target for our armed forces,” Lavrov said.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is pictured during a meeting in Moscow on March 21, 2024. Lavrov warned France this week that troops sent to Ukraine for training purposes would be considered a “legitimate target.” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is pictured during a meeting in Moscow on March 21, 2024. Lavrov warned France this week that troops sent to Ukraine for training purposes would be considered a “legitimate target.” OLGA MALTSEVA/POOL/AFP
Dmitry Peskov, press secretary to Russian President Vladimir Putin, had similar remarks, telling reporters at a briefing that “any instructors who are engaged in training the Ukrainian regime do not have any immunity” and “it does not matter whether they are French or not.”
Newsweek reached out for comment to the Office of the Defense Attaché at the Embassy of France in Washington, D.C., via email on Tuesday evening.
Last week, a Reuters report based on three anonymous diplomatic sources indicated that France was planning to send military trainers to Ukraine to provide “technical expertise for warplanes to be provided by the West” and maintain equipment.
The plans were reportedly “very advanced” at the time of the Reuters report, with the possibility of French troops already being in Ukraine during Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s visit to France this week. Zelensky is expected to hold talks with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris on Friday.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova previously told reporters on May 8 that French troops would be targeted by Russian forces if they “appear in the conflict zone [in Ukraine].”
Zakharova’s warning came months after French-Russian tensions flared and concerns were raised among NATO allies when Macron first suggested that troops could be sent from France to Ukraine.
Macron’s suggestion also prompted Putin to warn that nuclear weapons were on the table if the troops were sent, with the Russian president saying in February that he “won’t let anyone interfere” in Russian affairs and that Moscow’s “strategic nuclear forces are in a state of full readiness.”
Benjamin Haddad—a member of parliament for Macron’s Renaissance party who frequently weighs in on French foreign policy discussions—told Newsweek last month that momentum for a NATO troop deployment in Ukraine was “clearly” building.
Other NATO states like U.S. and Germany have publicly ruled out sending troops to Ukraine. In March, National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said President Joe Biden had “made it clear that we will not put U.S. boots on the ground.”
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