Russia-France Tensions Are Boiling Over

A series of recent incidents have pushed Paris and Moscow, already at odds over the Kremlin's war effort in Ukraine, even further apart.

When the now-approved U.S. military aid languished in Congress, France increasingly stepped into a leading role pushing for Western support for Ukraine within NATO. French President Emmanuel Macron has been far more willing than many other leaders within the alliance to broach the dicey topic of military personnel in Ukraine.

"Given Macron's previous, somewhat softer, approach to Russia from the buildup to and the early years of the war in Ukraine, it has been a bit of a surprise to see his volte-face to now become one of the more hawkish voices in NATO," William Freer, a research fellow with the U.K.-based Council on Geostrategy think tank, told Newsweek.

"It does seem that the Kremlin has not taken this change well," he added.

Russia's Investigative Committee, the country's main federal investigating body, said on Thursday that a French citizen had been arrested in Moscow, suspected of collecting Russian military information.

"This information, when obtained by foreign sources, can be used against the security of the state," the committee said in a statement.

Newsweek has contacted the French Foreign Ministry.

Separately this week, French authorities arrested a Ukrainian-Russian man and launched an investigation after he sustained "significant burns following an explosion" in a hotel room in the north of the French capital.

Another incident involving several coffins at the Eiffel Tower bearing the words "French soldiers of Ukraine" saw Moscow deny any participation in the stunt.

In May, Paris had revoked the invite extended to Russian officials to participate in events marking the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings, attended on Thursday by many world leaders, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Reports from late May had suggested Paris could be poised to send military trainers to Ukraine, a move publicly delicate with many NATO countries eager to avoid a direct conflict with Russia in Ukraine.

Kyiv's army chief, Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi, signaled paperwork had been "signed" to allow a first wave of French military instructors to "visit our training centers soon and familiarize themselves with their infrastructure and staff."

Clarifying Syrskyi's remarks, Ukraine's Defense Ministry said Kyiv had "expressed interest in the prospect of receiving foreign instructors in Ukraine" from February this year, but that Ukrainian officials were "still in discussions with France and other countries on this issue."

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said in remarks reported by Russian state media that "all instructors who train Ukrainian troops have no immunity" from Russian strikes, "whether they are French or not."

"If you send your soldiers, your specialists, your instructors to Ukrainian soil so that they can train Ukrainian soldiers to better target and kill the Russians, they will naturally constitute a legitimate target," Alexander Makogonov, a spokesperson for Russia's Embassy in France, told French broadcaster BFM TV on Tuesday.

"These are outrageous statements that will not go unanswered," French Foreign Ministry deputy spokesperson Christophe Lemoine reportedly said.

Sharing footage to social media on Tuesday, the Russian Embassy in South Africa said the Russian army had "captured a French mercenary" in the Kharkiv village of Lyptsi—a focus of Russian attacks in the northeast of Ukraine—and referenced reports of French military trainers possibly heading for Ukraine. Newsweek could not independently verify the clip.

In a statement, the French Embassy in Pretoria denounced the footage as "fake news" and "particularly ridiculous," adding: "We suggest your actors work on their accent with some French classes."

Russia's Embassy in France condemned on Tuesday what it called a "new Russophobic campaign launched in the French media."

"The Russian Federation has never interfered and does not interfere in the internal affairs of France—our country has other, more important priorities," the diplomatic mission said in a statement.

"It appears that the Russians have placed a new emphasis on trying to use propaganda to undermine French support for Macron's policies," Freer argued. "In the longer term, it remains to be seen how permanent this further souring of relations will be."

Paris revoked the invite extended to Russian officials to participate in events marking the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings, marked with many world leaders, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, on Thursday.