” It’s absurd. The spokeswoman for Russian diplomacy, Maria Zakharova, strongly criticized Emmanuel Macron’s remarks to the press. The latter had estimated Monday that the arms deliveries to Ukraine did not constitute an escalation.
“Is the French president really certain that deliveries of heavy weapons, planes to the kyiv regime (…) will not lead to an escalation of the situation? she added. “I can’t believe this is adult logic,” she said.
“Not likely to touch Russian soil”
The diplomat was questioned at a press conference on Macron’s remarks on Monday concerning possible deliveries of fighter jets to Ukraine. The French president had stressed that each decision to deliver armaments had to meet “criteria”, in particular that it “is not escalatory” and “not likely to touch Russian soil”. “By definition, nothing is excluded,” he added.
France announced on Tuesday that it was going to supply Ukraine with 12 Caesar guns, in addition to the 18 guns of this type already delivered, but Paris is refusing at this stage to deliver its Leclerc tanks.