© Luc Nobout / IP3 / Getty ImagesGendarmes parade on July 14, 2018 in Paris.
France has emerged as one of the leaders of the "hybrid war" against Moscow, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has said. She made her remarks after the EU agreed to its 17th package of sanctions.
France, together with the United Kingdom, proposed the 'Coalition of the Willing' to take a more proactive role supporting Ukraine in its fight with Russia in February 2025 after the new administration of US President Donald Trump moved to adopt a more conciliatory stance towards resolving the conflict.
"It is common knowledge that since 2022, Paris has been one of the most uncompromising participants in the West's hybrid war against our country," Zakharova said during a press call on Thursday.
"Over the past few months, the French have effectively become the leaders of the West's 'party of war,'" she added, citing France's military aid to Ukraine and its push for additional sanctions on Russia.She argued that the restrictions are part of a "trade war" aimed at "hindering Russia's economic, technological, and humanitarian development, and at undermining its industrial potential.
"France has played a major role in devising illegitimate sanctions packages in the past. Now, it is attempting to blackmail us with new, supposedly broader sanctions," Zakharova said.
" Russia, she added, will have a "measured response" to any new restrictions.French President Emmanuel Macron has said the EU would impose new sanctions "in the coming days" if Moscow does not accept Ukraine's demand for an unconditional 30-day ceasefire. Earlier this year, Paris delivered a first batch of Mirage 2000 fighter jets to Kiev.
Russia has warned that military aid to Ukraine would only lead to further escalation. President Vladimir Putin has insisted that, for a lasting ceasefire, Ukraine must halt its mobilization campaign, stop receiving weapons from abroad, and withdraw its troops from all territory claimed by Russia.
Reader Comments
It's a little big man drug of choice.
With "AI" meaning A lgorithmic I nterference.
An exodus of talented and skilled workers, especially in the tech sector, has further hurt Russia’s global competitiveness. Around 100,000 IT specialists emigrated from Russia in 2022 and have not returned, according to official data from the Ministry for Digital Development.
The government currently plans to cut military spending in 2025. The decline of the Russia military industrial complex will increasingly limit Russia’s ability to confront Western countries and NATO symmetrically in conventional and strategic competition, especially as technology becomes an even more significant element of national power. The country’s military industry is heading into a period of decline and stagnating innovation, and is having to simplify production in order to cope. This will affect the ability of Russian forces to recapitalize military hardware and modernize, and the speed with which they are able to do so.
In short, nothing you state is supported by facts.
Sanctions, coupled with the cancellation of international contracts following the invasion of Ukraine, has put Roscosmos in financial distress. This put Moscow in quite a bind as there are but two remaining missile developers in Russia, and neither have extensive experience with liquid-fuel ICBMs. Lacking access to equipment and technology from the West, Roscosmos is facing severe production delays, a shortage of qualified experts, and technical problems with Sarmat’s first stage.
Russia even had to notify the U.S. Defense Threat Reduction Center, prior to launching an intermediate range, nuclear-capable ballistic missile against the city of Dnipro in Ukraine, in order to not trigger the US nuclear arsenal.
Yea. Sounds like Russia clearly has the momentum.
Essentially, when one is biased against another person (for whatever reason), they will convince themselves and others around them that anything the other person says in a discussion is fundamentally flawed because it is coming from a person with a flawed character.
You shouldn’t dismiss others due to prejudice. It’s not smart. It’s uncivil, and it’s illogical.
Following Yars launching going on? These giant babies are mobile, something the U.S. couldn't dream of. Or maybe the new Oreshnik at Plesetsk. Zircons now on subs and surface ships.
That's Big-Mo.