France should think twice before sending troops to Ukraine, Russian State Duma Deputy Chairman Pyotr Tolstoy has said. Speaking to French BFM TV on Thursday, he warned that any French soldier who comes to Ukraine to fight against Russia will be eliminated.
His comments came in response to recent remarks made by French President Emmanuel Macron about potentially sending troops to the conflict zone. Last month, Macron triggered a barrage of criticism when he said that he “cannot exclude” the possibility of Western soldiers being deployed to aid Ukraine. While most NATO member states rushed to disavow his words and claimed that they had no such plans, the French leader later reaffirmed his stance by saying he recognizes no limits or Russian “red lines” when it comes to backing Kiev.
Tolstoy warned that Macron’s idea of sending French soldiers to Ukraine “will end with coffins covered by the [French] tricolor flag.”
“We don’t care for [Macron’s] opinions. We don’t care for Macron himself, what he says, or his limits. And we will kill all French soldiers who set foot on Ukrainian soil. Every single one that comes,” Tolstoy stated.
According to the MP, over the past two years some 13,000 foreign mercenaries have taken part in the conflict, fighting on Kiev’s side, including 367 French citizens. Of those, 147 have already died in battle. He called on the French public to consider how many more could perish if Paris officially deploys troops to the conflict zone.
“The French must understand the consequences… You are provoking World War III,” he said.
Earlier this week, the head of Russia’s foreign intelligence service, Sergey Naryshkin, claimed that a force of up to 2,000 troops was being prepared by France for a possible deployment to Ukraine. Ukrainian MP Aleksey Goncharenko on Wednesday also said that Paris is considering deploying a military force to the conflict zone, or more specifically to Ukrainian regions bordering Belarus. He said Macron is “very determined” to send troops to Ukraine, citing his sources close to the French leader.
Meanwhile, in an interview with the news agency dpa this week, Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said that the fact that Western forces are already present in Ukraine is an “open secret.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin said this week that Moscow was aware that Western soldiers, including French nationals, have been taking part in the conflict for some time. He warned, however, that direct deployment of Western troops to Ukraine would be seen by Moscow as the start of a direct confrontation.