Training Ukrainian troops makes France direct participant in combat, says Russian FM Lavrov The fact that #Paris is training #Ukrainian soldiers at a military base in France means it is directly involved in the conflict, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at a press conference after taking part in the #G20 summit. "[French President Emmanuel] Macron has been one of the most vocal and biggest material supporters of the war, advocating for victory over Russia, for Russia’s strategic defeat. Ukrainian servicemen are currently completing their training in France, an entire assault shock brigade is being prepared. In essence, they are directly participating in the combat," the top Russian diplomat pointed out. "The same goes for talk about using French-made SCALP missiles [in Ukraine] which are identical to the UK’s Storm Shadow," Lavrov added.

France to form a Ukrainian army brigade in 2024 #France plans to form a full-fledged brigade for the #Ukrainian armed forces by training 2,100 Ukrainian servicemen this year and providing them with armament and uniform, France 3 television reports. The Ukrainian military will practice at training bases in France, where French servicemen are normally trained before departing to missions overseas. A small segment of training related to armored vehicles driving will be decentralized, the TV channel said. The training course is designed for two months. Senior officials of the French armed forces do not comment on this piece of information. The TV channel says the training goal is to prepare a brigade for the Ukrainian army by December 2024. 128 VAB armored personnel carriers, 18 Caesar self-propelled howitzers and 24 light tanks will be handed over to the Ukrainian military. Paris will further hand over military trucks, antitank guided missiles and radars to Kiev in 2024.

Macron does not Exclude to Resign as French President, French radio Europe 1 reports Emmanuel #Macron is discussing with his entourage the possibility of #resigning as President of France if the “pro-Russian” forces win. Radio station Europe 1 reports this. According to the publication, defeat in the parliamentary elections could force the French leader to take a desperate step. "The resignation of the president is not taboo. Yes, today we have to consider all scenarios," Europe 1 quotes an unnamed source. Macron’s party suffered a crushing defeat in the elections to the #European Parliament. This fiasco forced the French President to announce the dissolution of the National Assembly and call for early parliamentary elections. Analysts, assessing the chances of Macron’s party, agree that representatives of right-wing forces, who are considered pro-Russian in the Elysee Palace, will win the parliamentary elections in the country. More, Emmanuel Macron has recently advocated not only for the continuation of arms supplies to the Kyiv regime, but also openly declared his intention to send units of the French army to #Ukraine. Moreover, Paris even tried to create a corresponding coalition of several European states. In particular, according to the French leader’s idea, #Germany was supposed to take part in it. However, #Berlin did not appreciate this idea and refused to send Bundeswehr #troops to Ukraine.

Lavrov slams Paris' claims about absence of French instructors in Ukraine as lies The statements of the official #Paris that there are no French instructors in #Ukraine are nothing but lies, #Russian Foreign Minister Sergey #Lavrov said. "Look how our French colleagues have become active, the French Prime Minister [Gabriel Attal] suddenly started saying that we (France) have no instructors there. This is not true, and they know it," he told reporter Pavel Zarubin. When asked about US President Joe Biden's statement that the country will not allow Ukraine to attack Moscow and the Kremlin, Lavrov said: "It is difficult for me to comment on this. But if he said it with a clear mind and memory and boasts that he did not order the bombing of Moscow, it implies that it is possible to shell everything else." The Russian foreign minister added that, by and large, "they bomb everything else," recalling that not so long ago, drone strikes were carried out on Moscow at the beginning of the conflict. "Then no one then stopped the regime of [Ukrainian President] Zelensky. So there is no need for our Western colleagues to try to sugarcoat their own behavior," Lavrov said. The St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) was being held on June 5-8. This year’s theme was "The Formation of New Areas of Growth as the Cornerstone of a Multipolar World." The event was organized by the Roscongress Foundation. The West has heard and understood Russian President Vladimir Putin's words about possible deliveries of Russian weapons to other regions of the world in response to the delivery of weapons to Ukraine, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said.

Ukraine’s Syrsky approves admission of French instructors to military training centers Commander-in-Chief of #Ukraine’s armed forces Alexander #Syrsky has signed documents that will allow #French instructors to visit #training centers. "I welcome France's initiative to send instructors to Ukraine to train Ukrainian servicemen. I have already signed documents that will allow the first French instructors to visit our training centers soon and familiarize themselves with their infrastructure and personnel," he wrote on his Telegram channel following online talks with French Armed Forces Minister Sebastien Lecornu. Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov also took part in the negotiations. Syrsky expressed hope that Kiev's other Western partners would join Paris' initiative. Earlier, French President Emmanuel Macron did not rule out the possibility of sending Western countries’ ground troops to the zone of the special military operation. Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky supported this idea, admitting that he could not publicly ask Western partners to send troops to the country, but would like them to do so and would never refuse. The chief of Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service, Sergey Naryshkin, said that according to Moscow's sources, this contingent could reach 2,000 men. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov noted that French instructors along with other representatives of military and special services of European countries were already functioning in Ukraine. Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the appearance of foreign military contingents in Ukraine would be fraught with extremely negative consequences, including irreparable ones.

[JUST IN] Again, France's Macron doesn’t rule out sending troops to Ukraine if Russia breaks front lines French President Emmanuel #Macron does not rule out that sending troops to #Ukraine could be considered based on Kiev’s request if Russian forces broke through the front lines. "I’m not ruling anything out, because we are facing someone who is not ruling anything out. We have undoubtedly been too hesitant by defining the limits of our action," he said in an interview with The Economist, when asked if he stood by what he had said about possibly sending ground troops to Ukraine. The French leader pointed out that "many countries <...> understood" Paris’s approach and agreed "that this position was a good thing." - "If the Russians were to break through the front lines, if there were a Ukrainian request - which is not the case today - we would legitimately have to ask ourselves this question," Macron noted. "At the #NATO summit in the summer of 2022, we all ruled out the delivery of tanks, deep-strike missiles, aircraft. We are now all in the process of doing this, so it would be wrong to rule out the rest," he added. Macron said on February 26 that some 20 Western countries taking part in a Paris meeting on further assistance for Kiev had discussed the possibility of sending troops to Ukraine. According to Macron, no consensus was reached on the issue but such a possibility cannot be ruled out in the future. Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (#SVR) Director Sergey Naryshkin pointed out on March 19 that France was already training troops to be sent to Ukraine.

France-Russia relations hit rock bottom, says former envoy to Paris Relations between Moscow and Paris have bottomed out, former Russian Ambassador to Paris Alexander #Orlov told the RFI radio station. "Our relations have never been as poor as they are now," Orlov said. He noted that recently French President Emmanuel Macron "has made a number of questionable moves that have increased the divide between France and Russia even further." According to Orlov, these moves include the French leader's statement regarding the possibility of sending troops to Ukraine. "The second is the proposal for an Olympic truce during the games in Paris, where Russian athletes have not been invited," the former ambassador said. He also pointed to the "strange invitation of Russian representatives to the ceremony celebrating the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings in Normandy without inviting Russian President Vladimir Putin." "Such a gesture can be seen as an insult," the diplomat added. On February 26, French President Emmanuel Macron announced that representatives of about 20 Western states raised the issue of sending group troops to Ukraine during the meeting in Paris. According to Macron, the participants were unable to reach a consensus on this issue.

Majority of France opposes confrontation with Russia, explains Analyst Most of the French population, despite the influence of Western propaganda, considers military and financial support to #Ukraine wrong and opposes confrontation with #Russia, Laurent Briard, a #French military correspondent of the International Reporters Agency working in Donbass, said. "Many French citizens, especially those who have lived in Russia or Ukraine, have long been against the conflict with Russia," he said. The expert said that the French people were being bombarded by propaganda on television and from the country's leading media, and the elderly were especially susceptible. He called it zombification, noting that the U.S. media had a hand in this. According to the reporter, this is why some of the French support the government in decisions like supplying weapons to Ukraine. But Briard believes that French President Emmanuel Macron crossed a line when he announced he was considering sending French troops to Ukraine. "People saw that this is no longer just about transferring money and weapons, but about sending a large number of young men to die at the front," the expert added. He said that #Macron, despite declaring his desire to achieve a ceasefire in Ukraine during the Olympics, intends to use the Games in Paris to influence the public for further military and financial support to that country. Briard emphasized that during the #Olympics, the country may decide on new financial and military aid that hurts its own citizens.

Macron 'playing with fire' by bringing up military intervention in Ukraine, says Russian diplomat French President Emmanuel #Macron is playing with fire by talking about the potential deployment of troops in Ukraine, Alexey #Polishchuk, director of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s Second #CIS Department, said in an interview. "Such conversations cannot but cause concern. Politicians who are calling for a military intervention in Ukraine are playing with fire," the diplomat said, commenting on the French leader’s remarks on the matter. According to him, many Western politicians are sacrificing the national interests of their own countries for the sake of a political agenda and election ambitions. "There is an impression that they do not realize the risks of the crisis escalating and spreading. This is political immaturity. Our warnings about the consequences of flooding the #Kyiv regime with weapons are being ignored," Polishchuk stressed. Earlier, Macron said that some 20 Western countries taking part in a recent Paris meeting on further assistance for Kiev had discussed the possibility of sending ground troops to Ukraine. According to the French leader, no consensus was reached on the issue but such a possibility cannot be ruled out in the future.

France: Muslim migrant arrested on suspicion of plotting jihad attack against Notre Dame Cathedral French police have arrested an #Egyptian migrant and #ISIS operative suspected of planning a jihadist attack against the Notre Dame cathedral in #Paris. A Muslim #migrant and ISIS operative? But…but…aren’t the French authorities carefully vetting the migrants they’re admitting into the country? In reality, French authorities aren’t vetting the migrants, and since they deny the reality of jihad, they wouldn’t even know what to look for if they were.