The announcement by French President Emmanuel Macron of strengthened military support for Ukraine potentially makes France a direct participant in the war in Ukraine, the Kremlin said on Friday.
“Mr Macron is demonstrating absolute support for the Ukrainian regime and declares that France stands prepared to step directly into the military conflict,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitri Peskov told Russian media outlets.
Peskov deemed Macron’s statements “extremely provocative,”and charged that they escalated continental tensions and fostered no positivity.
Macron announced on Wednesday evening a “new collaboration” with Kiev, including the transfer of Mirage 2000-5 fighter aircraft. Additionally, Ukrainian pilots are to undergo training in France starting this summer with the aim of being ready by year-end.
France also seeks to train 4,500 Ukrainian soldiers domestically.
Macron denied these measures amount to an “escalation factor.” He argued that training someone in the western area, which is a free zone in Ukraine, was not aggressive.
Franco-Russian tensions have been increasing since Macron hinted at sending French instructors to Ukraine and has not ruled out deploying French soldiers there.
The Kremlin, in turn, stated it would not exclude targeting any French soldiers dispatched to Ukraine.
