France Must Stop Sponsoring Terrorism, Zakharova Warns

On Sunday, Russian Foreign Affairs Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zahkarova responded to the statements of French President Emmanuel Macron who said he was willing to ask for a ceasefire in Ukraine during the 2024 Olympic Games that will take place in Paris from July 26 to August 11.

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"I come forward with a proposal in response to Macron's: stop supplying weapons being used to kill civilians and also stop sponsoring terrorism," she said.

"I also suggest that Macron comes up with a similar proposal to the parties to the Middle East conflict. A lot probably depends on what France says there," Zakharova pointed out.

During recent weeks, the French president has modified his position on the Ukrainian conflict on several occasions. His opinions have ranged from a request to seek peaceful negotiations with Russia to a proposal to carry out land military operations to support Ukraine.

Despite the rejection that this last alternative has caused among Western allies, Macron once again spoke of the need for ground operations in an interview published by Le Parisien.

“Perhaps at a given moment - I don’t want to do it and I will never take the initiative – we will have to move to ground operations of some kind to counter Russian forces. It’s France’s strength that we could do that," he said.

"We must not be intimidated. We are not facing a great power. Russia is a medium power with nuclear weapons but its GDP is much lower than the GDP of Germany or France," he also mentioned.

On Friday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov noted that Macron wants to further increase his country's involvement in the Ukrainian conflict.

"That Russia is an adversary for France is evident since France is already involved in the war in Ukraine... Judging by Mr. President's statements, he is not averse to increasing the degree of his involvement," he pointed out.