March 03, (THEWILL) – France “strongly” urged its citizens on Thursday, to leave Russia if their presence there was “not essential”, following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine and the closure of airspace between Russia and the European Union.
The government also urged French citizens to “defer any trips to Russia.”
“We know that there are a lot fewer flights. We think that people who don’t have an absolutely essential reason to remain in Russia should take the choice to leave.
“In the context of the invasion of Ukraine by Russia and following the imposition of international sanctions, we must increase our vigilance”, the Foreign Ministry wrote on its website.
The ministry referred French citizens to the website of its embassy in Russia for a “non-exhaustive” list of “indirect” flights to France after EU member states closed their airspace to Russian planes and services.
Already on Sunday, Paris had advised French citizens passing through Russia to leave the country.
Expressing fear that the worst phase of Russia’s war on Ukraine could be yet to start, with key Ukrainian cities at risk of encirclement by Russian forces, Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, told France 2 TV on Thursday, that Russia would look to besiege cities after its initial expectations of a quick victory were scuppered by Ukrainian resistance.
“I think it is possible that the worst is ahead of us. The Russians entered Ukraine looking for a blitzkrieg, a fast advance that would allow Russia to control Ukraine. It was not the case, due to the exemplary, courageous and strong resistance from the Ukrainians”, said Le Drian.
He said after the fall to Russia of the southern city of Kherson, centres including Kharkiv in the east, Mariupol in the south and Kyiv itself were at risk of encirclement.
“As forces build up around those cities, we can fear a siege mentality”, he said.
Le Drian recalled past Russian tactics in the war in Syria and also against separatists in the region of Chechnya.
“The Russians are used to this – remember Aleppo, Grozny. This could be very grave. The disaster continues and Russia’s despicable aggression continues.”
Asked what President Vladimir Putin’s strategy was for Ukraine, Le Drian replied the Russian leader wanted “the negation of Ukraine and the negation of a democratic country on his doorstep.”
He said that the tensions over the pro-Moscow-Ukrainian breakaway regions of Donetsk and Lugansk ahead of the Russian invasion on February 24 were just an “alibi, a pretext.”
“Putin’s wish is to avoid having democratic models on his doorstep that could eventually have an influence on the development of Russia”, he said.
Le Drian is due later Thursday, to visit Ukraine’s neighbour Moldova in a show of support for its pro-EU government as Russian forces seek to press further east.
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