Medvedev: Russia Sees ‘No More Red Lines’ for France

Date: 08 March 2024 - 22:03

News ID: ۱۲۵۴۲۴

MOSCOW (Dispatches) -- Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Thursday warned France that Russia has “no more red lines” for the country.
Medvedev, who was head of state between 2008 and 2012 and currently serves as deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, made the comment in a message posted on X, formerly Twitter.
His warning was directed at French President Emmanuel Macron, who earlier in the day reaffirmed Paris’ firm support for Kyiv in its war against Russia while meeting with France’s other party leaders at the Elysee Palace.
Le Monde reported that after the meeting, Fabien Roussel—national secretary of the French Communist Party—said Macron had expressed how “France’s position has changed” regarding the war, and that “there are no more red lines, there are no more limits.
Medvedev addressed the report from the French newspaper in a threatening X post.
“Macron has said, ‘there are no more red lines, there are no more limits’ in terms of supporting Ukraine (Le Monde). Then that means, Russia has no more red lines left for France,” Medvedev wrote.
The Kremlin official then added, “In hostem omina licita,” a Latin phrase that roughly translates as “everything is legal if it is done to an enemy.”
Earlier this week, Macron walked back on comments he made a week earlier that were widely interpreted to mean he supported sending NATO soldiers into Ukraine to fight against Russia.
“Nothing should be excluded,” the French president said, following a gathering of Ukraine’s backers in Paris on February 26. “We will do anything we can to prevent Russia from winning this war.”
His comments drew support from some NATO leaders, while the Kremlin issued a statement that declared such a move could lead to a direct conflict between NATO and Russia.
Speaking to the press on February 27, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Western troops becoming involved in the war would result in the “inevitability” of a direct confrontation.
“In that case, it’s not going to be about probability, but inevitability—that’s how we assess it,” Peskov said when asked about the probability of a direct conflict between NATO and Russia if Western troops are sent to Ukraine, according to Russia’s Tass news agency.
Medvedev, a longtime close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, threatened a nuclear strike on Ukraine in January if Kyiv attacked missile launch sites on Russian territory.
France’s defense minister on France reiterated that the deployment of Western combat troops to fight against Russia on the ground in Ukraine is not on the table but new ways need to be found to battle Russian forces.
Sebastien Lecornu said the furor caused by Macron’s initial remarks was due to them being “taken out of context”.
“There were hypotheses clearly put on the table but not combat ground troops as may have been said here or there,” he told broadcaster BFMTV, noting that Macron had reaffirmed that France would not be a “co-belligerent” in the conflict.
“But between the transfer of

arms and co-belligerence – in other words direct war with Russia – have we done everything within that space? Are there paths that we can explore? And notably paths involving a military presence?” he asked. Lecornu said this could include mine clearance and the training of Ukrainian soldiers on Ukrainian soil. “The more Ukraine needs to conscript, to raise up its army, the greater the need will be to ramp up training,” he added.
He also announced that three French companies would create partnerships to produce and maintain weapons and spare parts on Ukrainian soil. They are the Delair drone manufacturer, Nexter, the French branch of the Franco-German company KNDS which produces the Caesar canons delivered to Kyiv, and Arquus, a French manufacturer of land military equipment which has a contract to maintain armored vehicles.
“We are not in the same situation as two years ago”, Lecornu said, noting that Kyiv’s summer counteroffensive had not met with the success Ukraine’s allies had hoped for.
Macron on Thursday hosted French party leaders to clarify his policy on Ukraine ahead of parliament debates next week. Several of the leaders expressed unease afterward that he had made clear there were “no limits” to France’s support of Ukraine.