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All of French army to fit into football stadium — politician

Potential deployment of French troops to Ukraine would have no impact on the frontlines, Fabrice Sorlin said

MOSCOW, January 19. /TASS/. France’s military capabilities are extremely limited, and the potential deployment of French troops to Ukraine would have no impact on the frontlines, Fabrice Sorlin, vice chairman of the International Russophile Movement and a French politician, said in an interview with TASS.

"Let’s look at this realistically. From a purely military standpoint, France sending a few thousand troops would not affect the situation on the ground in Donbass in any way. Russia is winning and will continue to win," he said, commenting on remarks by French President Emmanuel Macron.

The politician gave a critical assessment of the French army. "In addition, France currently has very limited military capabilities. Its military-industrial complex is essentially dead," Sorlin noted.

"The infantry comprises roughly 80,000 people, including administrative staff. The whole French army could fit into the Stade de France, a single football stadium. A few thousand servicemen will not change much," he added.

According to Sorlin, Paris has significantly exhausted its military equipment supporting Kiev. "France gave Ukraine almost all of its Caesar self-propelled artillery systems. They have been either destroyed or seized as trophies by the Russian army. We have almost no tanks left. There is very little military equipment remaining," he concluded.

Macron previously did not rule out the possibility of sending several thousand French troops to Ukraine after the conflict ends. Moscow opposes the presence of NATO military personnel in Ukraine. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said earlier that ensuring Ukraine’s security guarantees through "foreign military intervention in some part of Ukrainian territory" would be unacceptable for Russia.

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