The Russian 007s claim that, after the words, French President Emmanuel Macron would be ready to move on to deeds , by sending his troops to Ukraine . "It is preparing a military contingent of 2,000 men ," underlined the head of Moscow's external intelligence services, Serghei Naryshkin, saying he was aware of the French plan to support Kiev in the event of an escalation by Moscow . Not without threatening that Western soldiers would become "a priority target" for the Russians.
But Paris categorically denies it , branding "the maneuver orchestrated by Naryshkin" as an example of "Russia's systematic use of disinformation. We consider this type of provocation irresponsible,” underlined the French Ministry of Defense.
Meanwhile, among Vladimir Putin's first acts after his re-election at the helm of Russia for another six years there will be the confirmation at the highest level of the strategic axis with China through a visit to Beijing scheduled for May . At least according to sources cited by Reuters, while the news is not confirmed by either country.
The acceleration in the development of relations between Beijing and Moscow is a phenomenon of the last two years, favored by the conflict in Ukraine and the consequent economic sanctions of Western countries on Russia, which seeks to remedy this with the growth of trade and energy exports towards the East : with China, precisely, and with India. But other countries that have friendly relations with the US and the EU have also preserved their relations with Putin . This is demonstrated by the new congratulatory messages received from states such as Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, or Egypt.
On the ground, meanwhile, the Russian advance in the Ukrainian Donbass continues slowly, with the conquest of another town, that of Orlovka, near the town of Avdiivka, occupied by Moscow's troops last month. But Russia must continue to deal with the Ukrainian bombings on the border region of Belgorod, which in the last week alone, according to governor Vyacheslav Gladkov, have caused 16 deaths and around a hundred injuries. Meanwhile, Putin said that "all attempts" to infiltrate from Ukraine into the same region of Belgorod and Kursk, claimed by Russian paramilitary groups part of Kiev's forces, have "failed". Another Achilles' heel for Moscow are the attacks on its fleet ships in the Black Sea, where several units were sunk by Ukrainian marine drones.
