Putin’s spy chief scolds Macron for ‘dangerous, irresponsible’ remark on Ukraine
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s foreign intelligence chief has said French President Emmanuel Macron’s refusal to rule out sending European troops to fight Russian soldiers in Ukraine was extremely dangerous and irresponsible.
Macron said last month that there was no consensus on sending European troops to fight in Ukraine but that nothing should be excluded, though the United States and other European members of the alliance have said there were no plans to do so.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has triggered the deepest crisis in Moscow’s relations with the West since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, and President Vladimir Putin has warned that the West risks provoking a nuclear war if it sends troops to fight in Ukraine.
Russia’s Putin warns sending Western troops to Ukraine risks nuclear war
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday (29 February) that Western support for Ukraine risks triggering a global war, in his most explicit threat to use nuclear weapons since he ordered the full-scale invasion of Ukraine two years ago.
Asked about Macron’s remarks, Sergei Naryshkin, the head of Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), the main successor to the KGB’s First Directorate foreign spying section, said they were deeply irresponsible.
“This shows the high degree of political irresponsibility of Europe’s leaders today, in this case, the president of France,” Naryshkin told state television in remarks on Tuesday (5 March). “These statements are extremely dangerous.”
“It is sad to see this, sad to observe and sad to understand that the ability of current elites in Europe and the North Atlantic to negotiate is at a very low level,” he said. “They more and more rarely demonstrate any common sense at all.”
Russia and the United States have the world’s largest arsenals of nuclear weapons. President Joe Biden has cautioned that a conflict between Russia and NATO could trigger World War Three.
After the Russian invasion in 2022, Western leaders said they would help Ukraine defeat Russian troops on the battlefield and drive out Russian troops. Ukraine recaptured large swathes of territory in 2022.
But Kyiv’s counteroffensive in 2023 failed to pierce heavily dug in Russian lines, and Russian forces have been pushing into Ukrainian territory just as US support for Ukraine is tangled in domestic political debates.
Russia controls nearly one fifth of territory internationally recognised as Ukraine.
United front
France has invited foreign and defence ministers from Ukraine’s main allies and the NATO Secretary General to participate in a video call on Thursday aimed at showing a “united front” and coming up with concrete proposals to boost support for Kyiv.
A follow up conference had been scheduled to take place in Paris with ministers and senior diplomats from some 28 countries, but that was shelved for a video call amid the criticism that the meeting was too rushed.
“The debate that followed reflects only partially the reality of the discussion in Paris and should not overshadow our collective determination to support Ukraine,” according to the invitation seen by Reuters.
The invitation, sent to ministers on behalf of France’s foreign and defence ministers, is also addressed NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell. Both of them had not been invited on 26 February.
Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba will also participate by video call, diplomats said.
The invitation said the meeting would look at ways of speeding up delivery of key capabilities, notably artillery ammunition supply and production, as well as organising a system that would enable partners to improve ways to empty their ammunition stocks and set up new options for medium and long-range missiles.
It also said that “without becoming parties to the conflict ourselves”, it would also explore support through cyber defence, mine or ordnance clearance, securing the border with Belarus and coordination of production and maintenance of equipment in Ukraine.
The invite made no mention of sending non-combat troops to Ukraine, something that French officials have suggested could be a possibility.
One other area that would be discussed is support for countries directly threatened by Russia, particularly Ukraine’s neighbour Moldova.
Moldova spy chief warns on new destabilisation attempts by Russia
Moldova’s spy chief said on Tuesday (5 March) that Russia was planning fresh attempts to meddle in the country’s internal affairs by provoking protests, interfering in upcoming presidential elections, and disrupting plans to join the European Union.
Three diplomats said Moldova’s President Maia Sandu would be in Paris on Thursday for separate talks with Macron.
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