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Macron's Mirage pledge and Moscow's warning
Summary
A look back at the French announcement of fighter jets for Ukraine and the Russian threat that preceded it.
What did France promise Ukraine on 6 June 2024, and how had Moscow already responded to the idea of French personnel on Ukrainian soil?
On 6 June 2024, President of France Emmanuel Macron announced that France would send Dassault Mirage 2000-5 fighter aircraft to Ukraine. He said France would also train Ukrainian pilots, with both steps due by the end of 2024.
Two days earlier, on 4 June 2024, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov had warned that French military instructors would be "legitimate targets" if they were deployed to Ukraine. The warning was aimed at the prospect of French trainers working in the country.
Why the sequence matters
Taken together, the two statements show how military aid to Ukraine was becoming a point of friction in Russia–NATO relations. Paris committed to supplying aircraft and to training; Moscow, in turn, had already set out its stance on French instructors being present in Ukraine.
The announcement tied the delivery of the jets to pilot training and gave a deadline of the end of 2024.
