Russian defense minister warns his French counterpart against sending troops to Ukraine

By Elena Teslova

MOSCOW (AA) - Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu warned his French counterpart Sebastian Lecornu against sending troops to Ukraine in a phone talk late on Wednesday.

The Defense Ministry in a statement said Shoygu told his French counterpart the implementation of such plans "will create problems for France itself."

Lecornu, for his part, offered condolences over the terrorist attack on the Crocus City concert hall in Moscow region on March 22, the ministry said, noting that the French minister "persistently tried to clear Ukraine and Western countries of suspicions of involvement in the terrorist attack, shifting responsibility to ISIS (Daesh)."

Shoygu underscored that the investigation is ongoing, which will find those involved. "All those responsible will be punished. There is a Ukrainian trace in the terrorist attack organization," he said.

"The Kyiv regime does nothing without the approval of Western curators. We hope that in this case, the French special services are not behind this," he stressed.

Shoygu reiterated Russia's readiness for a dialogue on Ukraine, noting that the initial stage could be based on the Istanbul peace initiative, a series of talks that took place in Türkiye's largest city in March 2022.

As for a meeting on Ukraine in Geneva that is being organized, holding it without Russia's participation has no sense, the minister stressed.

French President Emmanuel Macron has recently adopted a tougher stance on Russia’s “special military operation" launched more than two years ago, and has not ruled out sending European troops to Ukraine.