Claims by Moscow that France is planning to send 2,000 troops to Ukraine are another example of Russian propaganda, according to the French Defense Ministry.
“The maneuver ... once again illustrates Russia’s systematic use of disinformation,” the ministry said in a March 19 statement.
“We consider this type of provocation [to be] irresponsible.”
Earlier the same day, Sergey Naryshkin, head of Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), claimed to have information that 2,000 French troops were being primed for imminent deployment.
“According to information obtained by the SVR, a [French military] contingent is already being prepared to be sent to Ukraine,” he told Russia’s TASS news agency.
“Initially, it will include roughly 2,000 troops.”
In a presumable reference to French President Emmanuel Macron, Mr. Naryshkin went on to accuse France’s “current leadership” of “not caring about the death of ordinary French people or the concerns of the [country’s] generals.”
In the event that French troops are deployed to Ukraine, they would be viewed by the Russian armed forces as “legitimate priority targets,” according to Mr. Naryshkin.
Since Russia launched its invasion of eastern Ukraine in February 2022, NATO member France has remained one of Kyiv’s staunchest supporters.
Under Mr. Macron, Paris has provided Ukraine with billions of euros and a range of offensive weaponry, including tanks, artillery rounds, and long-range missiles.
Last month, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited Paris, where he and Mr. Macron signed a 10-year “security agreement” between their two countries.
Along with a pledge for an additional 3 billion euros (about $3.26 billion) toward Ukraine’s war effort, the deal also calls for stepped-up deliveries of French munitions to Ukraine.
Macron on Warpath
In recent weeks, public statements by Mr. Macron regarding Russia’s ongoing invasion have become increasingly hawkish.Last month, he surprised many observers by suggesting that European Union member-states could send troops to Ukraine to help fight Russian forces.
“Nothing should be ruled out,” Mr. Macron said at a Feb. 26 meeting of EU leaders in Paris.
Other leading allies of Kyiv—including the United States, the UK, and Germany—quickly distanced themselves from the French leader’s assertions.
Since then, however, Mr. Macron has gone even further.
On March 7, he told a meeting of French opposition leaders that Paris should have “no limits” in its approach to Russia’s invasion, which has made several gains in recent weeks.
Speaking to French media outlets after the meeting, Green Party leader Marine Tondelier described Mr. Macron’s remarks as “extremely worrying.”
Manuel Bompard, leader of the France Insoumise party, told French daily Le Monde, “I arrived [at the meeting] worried and left even more worried.”
Other French opposition leaders have reportedly voiced similar misgivings.
Nevertheless, Mr. Macron’s controversial proposals have been welcomed by a handful of other European leaders.
On March 8, French Foreign Minister Stéphane Séjourné met his three Baltic counterparts in Lithuania, where the notion of sending troops to Ukraine received a warm reception.
“No form of support for Ukraine can be excluded,” Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis reportedly said at the time.
The three Baltic States, all of which border Russian Federation territory, have been members of NATO since 2004.
On the same day, Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski—contradicting earlier statements by Poland’s prime minister—said the idea was “not unthinkable.”
Mr. Sikorski’s assertion coincided with similar remarks by Petr Pavel, president of the Czech Republic, which, like Poland, is a longstanding NATO member.
“From the point of view of international law and the U.N. Charter, there would be nothing to prevent NATO member-states troops ... from assisting in the work in Ukraine,” Mr. Pavel said in televised comments.
Notably, the Czech leader made the remark only three days after meeting with Mr. Macron, who paid a state visit to Prague on March 5.
French Denials Challenged
Russian officials have repeatedly stated that Western military personnel—including French fighters—are already present in Ukraine.In January, Russia’s military claimed to have carried out a “precision strike” on a facility housing “foreign fighters” in Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region.
Russia’s Defense Ministry later asserted—without providing evidence—that 60 fighters, most of whom were “French mercenaries,” had been killed in the strike.
The French Foreign Ministry rejected the allegation, stating that “France has no mercenaries in Ukraine or anywhere else.”
The ministry described Moscow’s claims to the contrary as “another clumsy manipulation” by Russia.
Yet despite the denials, Mr. Naryshkin, Russia’s spy chief, claimed that the French military establishment was “visibly concerned” over mounting French casualties in Ukraine.
“The disclosure of such sensitive information could provoke citizens to protest, especially against the backdrop of massive anti-government campaigns by [French] farmers,” he said.
In recent weeks, farmers in France—and throughout Europe—have staged countrywide protests against unpopular trade policies espoused by the EU.
Florian Philippot, leader of France’s opposition right-wing Patriots’ Party, appears to be taking the Russian claims seriously.
“I don’t believe for a moment the French denials about the planned deployment of 2,000 men to Ukraine,” he said in a social media post.
Mr. Philippot went on to accuse Mr. Macron and his government of “lying to us ... from the outset.”
He also took aim at other French opposition parties, which he accused of willfully neglecting the issue.
“It’s up to the French people—civil and military—to move,” Mr. Philippot said.
In remarks sure to raise hackles in Paris, he told TASS on March 19 that Mr. Macron would be swept from power if the Russian claims were substantiated.
“If it turns out he lied about the presence of French troops [in Ukraine], I doubt he would survive a no-confidence vote that would topple his government,” Mr. Philippot said.
Paris has yet to respond to his assertions.
