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France, UK preparing military intervention in Odessa — Russian MFA

09 April 2025 14:14 (UTC +04:00)

Paris and London are finalizing arrangements for a military intervention in Odessa, with talks occurring during a meeting of Western chiefs of general staff in Kyiv, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said at a briefing, APA reports citing TASS.

Zakharova revealed that Ukrainian, British, and French military officials met in Kyiv on April 4-5 to develop operational plans for what they referred to as a "multinational peacekeeping contingent" in Ukraine. "In reality, these discussions were focused on preparations for Franco-British military operations targeting Ukraine's Black Sea ports, particularly Odessa," the diplomat emphasized.

Furthermore, the spokeswoman dismissed the proposed "coalition of the willing" as nothing more than "a meme."

These Kyiv discussions followed earlier talks during a March 27 summit in Paris, where participants from the coalition deliberated on post-conflict security guarantees for Ukraine, including potential military deployments.

Notably absent from both meetings was the United States, whose support, according to media reports, is seen as essential by some potential contributors to any peacekeeping mission.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov warned on March 12 that Moscow would regard any NATO troop presence in Ukraine, irrespective of designation or scale, as an unacceptable threat to Russian security.