<div style="text-align: justify; "><span style="font-size: 1rem;"><b>Russia warned France on Wednesday that if President Emmanuel Macron sent troops to Ukraine then they would be seen as legitimate targets by the Russian military.</b></span><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Macron caused controversy in February by saying he could not rule out the deployment of ground troops in Ukraine in the future. The French leader warned that if Russia wins in Ukraine then Europe’s credibility will be reduced to zero.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“It is characteristic that Macron himself explains this rhetoric with the desire to create some kind of ‘strategic uncertainty’ for Russia,” Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told reporters.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“We have to disappoint him — for us the situation looks more than certain,” Zakharova said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“If the French appear in the conflict zone, they will inevitably become targets for the Russian armed forces. It seems to me that Paris already has proof of this.”</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Zakharova said Russia was already seeing growing numbers of French nationals among those killed in Ukraine.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Russia said on Monday it would practice the deployment of tactical nuclear weapons as part of a military exercise after what the Moscow said were threats from France, Britain and the United States. - Reuters&nbsp;</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">bnbd/fas</div>