Vladimir Putin and Dmitry Medvedev, former president of Russia and current vice president of the Security Council (Portal/Mikhail Klimentyev/RIA Novosti/Kremlin)
Allies of the Russian President, Wladimir Putinthey warned the French president on Wednesday, Emmanuel Macronthat any deployment of troops into Ukraine would have the same end as Napoleon Bonaparte's Grande Army, whose invasion of Russia in 1812 ended in death and defeat.
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On Monday, Macron opened the door for European nations send troops to Ukrainealthough he warned that there was currently no consensus.
His comments prompted other Western countries, including the United States and Britain, to say they had no such plans, while the Kremlin warned that conflict between Russia and NATO was inevitable if European members of the military alliance sent troops to fight in the Ukraine would send.
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Vyacheslav VolodinSpeaker of the State Duma, the lower house of the Russian parliament and close ally of Putin, He said Macron seemed to see himself as Napoleon and warned him not to follow in the footsteps of the French emperor.
“To maintain his personal power, Macron can think of nothing better than to trigger a third world war. “Your initiatives are becoming dangerous for the citizens of France,” Volodin said on his official social media account.
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“Before you make such statements, It would be right if Macron remembered how it ended for Napoleon and his soldiersmore than 600,000 of them remained on the wet earth,” he noted.
Napoleon's invasion of Russia in 1812 was initially rapid and ended with the capture of Moscow. But Russian tactics forced their Grande Army into a long retreat and Hundreds of thousands of his men died of disease, starvation and cold.
This week, French President Emmanuel Macron mentioned the possibility of sending Western troops to Ukraine (Portal/Gonzalo Fuentes)
The war in Ukraine has sparked the worst crisis in Russia's relations with the West since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, and Putin, who controls the world's largest nuclear arsenal, has warned of the dangers of a direct confrontation between NATO and Russia.
However, Macron's statement was welcomed by some outside Russia, particularly in Eastern Europe.
But the former president Dmitry Medvedevcurrent vice president of the Russian Security Council, suggested that Macron has dangerous delusions of grandeur and said his statement was an example of how wrong the West's political thinking has become.
“The vile and tragic heirs of Bonaparte“Tryping on the golden epaulets torn off 200 years ago, seeking revenge of Napoleonic proportions and spouting wild and extremely dangerous nonsense,” he said.
Medvedev has made a series of bellicose statements attacking the West Warning of the danger of a nuclear apocalypse when certain red lines are crossed.
Spokesperson for the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharovasaid Macron's statement showed that, unlike the French leader, other Western countries understood the risks of a direct clash between NATO troops and Russia.
“The leaders of many European governments were quick to say that they did not and do not plan to do anything of the sort,” he said. “It shows they understand the danger.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks during a press conference on the day of Ukraine's Southeast Europe Summit in Tirana, Albania (Portal/Florion Goga)
Meanwhile, the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, continues to redouble its efforts to achieve greater cooperation among its allies. This Wednesday in Tirana he asked that his most important partners, including the countries of Southeast Europe, accelerate arms deliveries in the face of Russian aggression.
“We have to survive. For this we need concrete decisions, decisions about weapons. And that these weapons arrive in time,” the Ukrainian president said at a press conference in the Albanian capital, where he attended a summit with the leaders of southeastern Europe today.
“If someone has decided to send us weapons, he must do it in a timely manner,” Zelensky stressed, adding that he was waiting for Macron’s visit to Ukraine in mid-March to discuss ways to strengthen his country.
In recent weeks, Ukraine's president has traveled to numerous countries to appeal for more support and weapons amid fears that support from his allies will decline, particularly from the United States, where Republicans are pushing for a new aid package for Kiev of 60 billion block dollars.
(With information from Portal and EFE)