France to send military trainers to Ukraine, Russia warns retaliation
"France will send instructors to Ukraine to train Ukrainian soldiers," said Oleksandr Syrskyi, the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, a few days ago. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has already responded to these words. He warned that all French military instructors in Ukraine "will be considered a legitimate target" by the Russian armed forces.
Russia intensifies its efforts in Africa to gain support from local governments, which is why Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has travelled to the continent.
The second stop on Lavrov's African tour was the Republic of the Congo. During a press conference with Jean Claude Gakosso, the Republic of the Congo's Foreign Minister, Lavrov stated that French instructors are already on Ukrainian territory.
Whoever they are labelled as, whether they are members of the French armed forces or are just mercenaries, they represent an absolutely legitimate target for our armed forces – said Lavrov.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed Russia's position. He added that instructors training Ukrainian troops do not have any form of immunity, regardless of their nationality.
International reactions
Recently, the commander of the Ukrainian Armed Forces signed documents allowing French instructors to attend training centres in Ukraine.
I welcome France's initiative to send instructors to Ukraine to train Ukrainian soldiers. I have already signed the documents that will allow the first French instructors to soon visit our training centres and familiarize themselves with their infrastructure and personnel - said General Oleksandr Syrskyi, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
French President Emmanuel Macron did not want to comment on these reports or Lavrov and Peskov's statements. He promised, however, to present France's position during the 80th anniversary of D-Day, which is observed on June 6th.
