Russia warns France against sending troops to Ukraine
- 4 April, 14:56
Russian Defence Minister has warned his French counterpart against sending troops to Ukraine.
In a phone conversation with his French counterpart on Wednesday, Minister Sergei Shoigu said that the move would “create problems in France itself”, according to a statement issued by the Russian Defence Ministry.
The phone conversation between Shoigu and French Defence Minister Sébastien Lecornu was the first communication between Russian and French defense ministers since October 2022. Shoigu’s comments followed French President Emmanuel Macron's remarks from February, wherein he stated that the potential deployment of Western forces to Ukraine were possible.
Shoigu highlighted Moscow's preparedness for discussions concerning Ukraine, underscoring that any upcoming peace talks in Geneva would lack significance without Russia's participation. He further mentioned that forthcoming negotiations could reference a preliminary document, previously deliberated upon during Russia-Ukraine discussions in Istanbul in March 2022. According to the Russian defence ministry’s statement, Lecornu expressed condolences regarding the tragic attack on a suburban Moscow concert hall on March 22, which resulted in the loss of 145 lives, marking one of the most devastating assaults on Russian territory in decades. The Russian Defense Ministry stated that during the call, Lecornu attempted to convince Shoigu that Ukraine and its Western allies were not connected to the concert hall raid. However, Shoigu maintained that Moscow had "information about a Ukrainian connection in orchestrating the terror attack."
“The Kyiv regime does nothing without approval of its Western handlers. We hope that the French special services weren't involved in it,” the ministry quoted Shoigu as telling his French counterpart.
