Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says French President Emmanuel Macron’s pledge of providing nuclear deterrence to European partners is a “threat”.

Macron on Wednesday called Russia a “threat to France and Europe”, saying he will open a debate on extending France’s nuclear deterrent, following a phone conversation with Germany’s likely next chancellor Friedrich Merz.

“Of course it is a threat against Russia. If he sees us as a threat… and says that it is necessary to use a nuclear weapon, is preparing to use a nuclear weapon against Russia, of course it is a threat,” Lavrov said on Thursday.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said later: “There are still people who want to return to the times of Napoleon, forgetting how it ended.”

French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte invaded Russia in 1812 in a disastrous six-month military campaign that ended in Russian victory.

Lavrov went as far as comparing Macron to Hitler and Napoleon, saying while the French leader did not declare a plan to conquer Russia, he “evidently wants the same thing”.

Source: Presstv