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Fears of Ukraine deployment lead to drop in French army recruits — Russian ambassador

Commenting on information that the French authorities want EU countries to issue defense bonds to boost European military-industrial complex capacities, Alexey Meshkov said that EU countries are not so enthusiastic about this

MOSCOW, March 27. /TASS/. The French army is seeing less recruits amid fears of being sent to Ukraine, among other reasons, Russian ambassador to Paris Alexey Meshkov said.

"We have information that recruitment numbers for the French army have decreased sharply. This is due, among other reasons, to the fact that the recruits may be sent to Ukraine," the diplomat said during a Rossiya-24 TV broadcast. "French society takes such statements seriously and openly says that this is another step towards World War III, which no one in the country wants, including the country’s leadership," he said.

Commenting on information that the French authorities want EU countries to issue defense bonds to boost European military-industrial complex capacities, the Russian ambassador said that EU countries are not so enthusiastic about this. "The French leadership links this idea with the fact that the French themselves are running out of money to support Ukraine, so they want to shift this burden to their NATO and EU allies," he explained.

According to Meshkov, French President Emmanuel Macron's statements about Russia being an adversary are unfounded. "The French authorities are to blame for the schism in the society, not any external forces, especially Russia, which has never been involved in anything of the kind," the ambassador pointed out.

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