Russia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov has said during a visit to Republic of Congo that French military instructors who are “already in Ukraine” are “legitimate targets” for Russian forces.
This comes as Ukrainian officials have signed an agreement with France to receive assistance from their military trainers.
Lavrov who was with the Republic of the Congo’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Jean Claude Gakosso made the comments during a joint news conference on Tuesday.
Lavrov said, “As for the French instructors, I think they are already on the Ukrainian territory.
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“Regardless of their status, military officials or mercenaries represent a legitimate target for our armed forces.”
The Russian chief of Foreign Intelligence, Sergei Naryshkin said that if Emmanuel Macron sends troops to Ukraine, then they will be “legitimate targets” for Russia.
On Tuesday the Kremlin issued a warning to Western military instructors who are in Ukraine, there will be no “immunity” for them with Russian attacks.
his comes over reports the French President Emmanuele Macron is to send military instructors to Ukraine.
Commander-in-Chief of Ukraine’s armed forces Alexander Syrsky has signed a document last week that allows French instructors “to train Ukrainian servicemen.”
Syrsky is hoping that other Western allies will also join Macron’s initiative and the French President has said he will not rule out sending troops to Ukraine.
Syrsky said, “I welcome France’s initiative to send instructors to Ukraine to train Ukrainian servicemen.”
The Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, “Any instructors who are engaged in training the Ukrainian regime do not have any immunity. It does not matter whether they are French or not.”
The Ukrainian Defence Minister said on Monday that they are in talks with other allies to send military instructors to the war-torn country.
The director general Ivan Timofeev, of the Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC) has issued a warning that the likelihood of a “full-scale war” with the West is growing.
Timofeev said that there are French and UK military units operating in Ukraine and that the West are continuing to provide “large-scale military assistance to Kyiv.”
Timofeev warned, “A full-scale war is not a foregone conclusion, but unfortunately, its likelihood is growing.”
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