Russia responded with a new threat of escalation on Tuesday to reports that France could soon send trainers to help the Ukrainian military.

“No instructor involved in training the Ukrainian military has immunity,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told the press according to a report from French newswire AFP.

“It doesn’t matter whether they’re French or not,” Peskov added.

Last week, Ukraine’s top commander Oleksandr Syrskyi said French trainers would come to Ukraine “soon,” a statement which was downplayed at the time both in Paris and Kyiv.

French President Emmanuel Macron — who will meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy this week during the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings in France — could soon announce a small coalition of countries willing to send trainers on the ground in Ukraine, Le Monde reported.

“There is no consensus today on officially sending, taking on and endorsing ground troops. But in a dynamic situation, nothing should be ruled out,” Macron said in February.

Russia’s Vladimir Putin said last week there were already “specialists [in Ukraine] under the guise of mercenaries.” State news agency TASS meanwhile quoted Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova as saying that Moscow had “confirmation … coming in on reports that France is preparing to send its troops to Ukraine,” in reference to trainers.

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