Russian diplomacy this Wednesday found it “absurd” that the French president believes that the supply of arms to Ukraine does not constitute an escalation and warned Israel about a possible supply of arms to Kiev.
“It’s Absurd”Russian diplomacy spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in statements to the media.
“Is the French president really sure that the deliveries of heavy weapons, from planes to the regime in Kiev (…) will not lead to an escalation of the situation?”he added.
“I refuse to believe this is the logic of a grown man”he insisted.
The diplomat was questioned at a press conference on Monday about Macron’s statements about possibly sending new weapons to Kiev, including fighter jets.
The French president stressed that any decision in this sense must meet “criteria”, namely that “it means no escalation” and “without the possibility of reaching Russian territory”.
“Nothing is excluded by definition”he added.
France announced on Tuesday that it will supply Ukraine with 12 Caesar guns, in addition to the 18 guns of this type already shipped, but Paris has so far refused to make its Leclerc tanks available.
At the same time, the Russian diplomacy spokeswoman warned Israel of possible arms shipments to Ukraine after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu indicated he would “investigate the matter”.
“As for the delivery of weapons [à Ucrânia] we do not classify the country by geography. We say that all countries that hand over arms should understand that we are considering that [as armas] as legitimate targets for the Russian armed forces”said Zakharova regarding the possibility of Israeli supplies.
The military offensive launched by Russia in Ukraine on February 24, 2022 has so far led to the flight of more than 14 million people – 6.5 million internally displaced persons and more than eight million to European countries – according to the latest data from the UN, which classifies this refugee crisis as the worst in Europe since World War II (1939-1945).
Currently, 17.7 million Ukrainians need humanitarian aid and 9.3 million need food aid and shelter.
The Russian invasion – justified by the Russian President, Vladimir Putin, with the need to “denazify” and demilitarize Ukraine for Russia’s security – was condemned by the international community at large, which responded by sending weapons to Ukraine and Russia to impose political and economic sanctions.
The UN presented 7,110 civilian deaths and 11,547 wounded as confirmed since the start of the war, underlining that these numbers are well below the real ones.
Source: DN
