MOSCOW, January 12. /TASS/. Russia finds plans by the French government to supply heavy armored vehicles to Ukraine a reckless move that may escalate things further, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova warned on Thursday.
"We view as reckless and irresponsible the moves by French authorities in the context of the Ukrainian crisis. The decision on further weapons supplies to Ukraine is yet another step that would provoke further escalation of the conflict and cause more deaths, including among civilians in the new Russian regions which have already been attacked by French weapons, specifically the Caesar artillery system," Zakharova said, taking a question from TASS.
The Russian diplomat pointed to a remark by French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna in which she warned that supplying Kiev with tanks promised by the republic’s president, Emmanuel Macron, would make Paris a party to the Ukrainian conflict. "Why? Don’t be shy, for they would indeed," Zakharova said ironically.
To her, the provocative decision by France to supply the Kiev regime with French-made light tanks is like opening Pandora’s box even wider and pushing France deeper into the conflict. "Paris’s policy of thoughtlessly beefing up Ukraine’s military muscle has exposed the shamelessness and duplicity of its professed desire to avoid an escalation of the conflict and statements about the need to maintain a dialogue with Russia and take a serious attitude towards Moscow’s demands for security guarantees," she said.
"This is either a dichotomy when various agencies controlled by the French government one way or another make controversial or conflicting statements, or shameless lies, for Paris has been effectively spinning the confrontation spiral while calling to defeat Russia. In fact, this is to prevent some unbiased mediation from happening, a fact the French government has repeatedly declared," Zakharova concluded.
During a phone conversation between Macron and Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky last week, the Elysee Palace agreed to send French-made AMX-10 RC light tanks to Ukraine. The vehicle was in production from 1976 to 1994. It has a mounted 105mm cannon and two machine guns. France currently operates 248 tanks, the republic’s Defense Ministry said, and has been gradually replacing those with Jaguar machines since 2020.