France rejects Russian call to evacuate diplomats from Kyiv

France has flatly rejected an urgent warning from the Russian government demanding that foreign nationals, diplomats, and international organizations evacuate Kyiv immediately ahead of a planned wave of "systematic strikes." Paris dismissed the evacuation order as a blatant act of psychological intimidation, confirming it has absolutely no intention of pulling its diplomatic corps out of the Ukrainian capital.

Appearing on broadcaster Franceinfo on Tuesday, French Foreign Ministry spokesperson Pascal Confavreux declared that withdrawing French diplomatic personnel is completely out of the question. While Confavreux emphasized that the ministry is treating the incoming aerial threats with extreme seriousness—implementing heightened vigilance on the ground and maintaining continuous communication to protect its citizens—he stressed that France will not bow to the Kremlin’s scare tactics, News.Az reports, citing Anadolu Agency.

Confavreux slammed Russia's pre-strike warning as "scandalous," pointing out the hypocrisy of a permanent member of the UN Security Council trying to absolve itself of future civilian casualties by telling people to run. He explicitly warned Moscow that deliberately targeting civilian, governmental, and administrative infrastructure constitutes a clear war crime under international law. France's defiance aligns with the broader consensus among Western military analysts, who note that Russia's sudden escalation is a desperate effort to mask its own compounding strategic failures.

According to French intelligence and diplomatic assessments, Russian forces have hit a total military deadlock, actually losing more territory to Ukrainian counterattacks since February than they have managed to capture. The battlefield stagnation is costing Moscow an estimated 35,000 troops killed or wounded every single month, forcing the Kremlin to look for external military support and deploy desperate financial incentives to sustain its recruitment numbers. Furthermore, heavy international sanctions and severe domestic internet disruptions are placing intense economic strain directly on the Russian public.

The tense diplomatic standoff follows an announcement from Moscow claiming it will launch heavy, long-range bombardments against Ukraine’s defense-industrial complex, drone design facilities, and command headquarters in Kyiv. The Russian Foreign Ministry framed the planned attacks as direct retaliation for a Ukrainian strike in the Russian-occupied Luhansk region that allegedly left 21 people dead. Ukraine has firmly rejected those claims, stating that its forces strictly target legitimate military assets in full compliance with international humanitarian law.

News.Az 

By Aysel Mammadzada