DISINFO: France seeks continuation of war
SUMMARY
If you read Macron's speech, you get the feeling that France is seeking a continuation of the war... Moreover, France is already ready to use its nuclear weapons for security purposes, etc. This is already nuclear rhetoric, this is a claim to nuclear leadership in Europe. That is, it is very, very confrontational.
RESPONSE
Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative accuses the EU of warmongering, pushing the false claim that France is not interested in peace.
This claim is a reaction to President Macron's address to the French nation. Macron called for a major European rearmament and said he would confer with European allies on the idea of using France's nuclear deterrent to protect the continent in the face of threats from Russia. He described Russia as a “threat to France and Europe".
The EU and France have consistently supported a just and lasting peace based on international law and Ukraine’s sovereignty.
Russia’s accusations of the EU countries sabotaging negotiations ignore the fact that it is Moscow that continuously escalates its unprovoked and unjustified aggression against Ukraine.
Putin and Russian officials, not Western leaders, have consistently issued nuclear threats since the start of its unprovoked war against Ukraine on February 24, 2022. On February 27, 2022, Putin ordered Russia's nuclear forces to a heightened state of alert—the first such escalation since the Cold War. Putin and other officials have repeatedly invoked nuclear rhetoric despite no provocation from Ukraine or its allies. Putin said on 29 February 2024 that if Western countries sent troops to Ukraine, it could lead to nuclear war. In his speech announcing Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine (which Moscow calls a ‘special military operation’) on 24 February 2022, Putin threatened Western nations with dire consequences if they dared to help Ukraine, saying that ‘Russia’s response will be immediate and will lead you to such consequences that you have never experienced in your history.’
It is Russia, who has been making nuclear threats, including the deployment of atomic weapons in Belarus, video simulations and suggestions of nuclear attacks on Western capitals on Russian TV, a change in Russia’s nuclear doctrine to lower the threshold of using atomic bombs, and a failed test of a ballistic missile designed to transport nuclear heads.
All the above-mentioned statements and many others have directly threatened European and global security. In addition, Russia has been regularly launching nuclear drills to intimidate its European neighbours. Russia’s military held the first stage of drills involving tactical nuclear weapons in May 2024. Russia and its ally Belarus launched a second stage of the drills in June 2024. See our article for more detailed analysis.
Read similar disinformation cases claiming that The EU diplomacy’s vision for peace in Ukraine illustrates its Russophobia, that The EU wants the war in Ukraine to continue, and that Munich Security Conference reveals EU’s support for escalating Ukraine conflict.