Russia will strike back: "We warned them. We are ready..."

"You ask about our possible diplomatic reaction, but it is obvious that, if such a scenario is realized, the response measures will lie far outside the political plan. The French side has been directly warned about it several times," said Studennikov, who is the director of the first European department of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs for RIA Novosti.

The Russian diplomat noted that although the "increasingly bellicose rhetoric" of French President Emmanuel Macron is not widely supported by allies in the EU and NATO and that the majority of the French reject it, Moscow cannot but take such statements seriously.

As Studennikov pointed out, the participation of France in the hostilities in Ukraine would officially make it a party to the conflict, which would greatly increase the risk of a conflict between the two nuclear powers on the battlefield, and at the same time, the French army would "become a legitimate target" of the Russian army, he said.

He expressed the hope that "if not common sense, then at least the instinct of self-preservation" will prevail in the ruling circles of France.

"One way or another, we are ready for any development," Studennikov concluded.

French President Emmanuel Macron said at the beginning of May that he does not rule out the possibility of sending troops to Ukraine if Russia breaks through the front line, and that such a request comes from Kyiv.

According to his words, "many EU countries" agreed with this approach of France, RIA Novosti reports.