The Chief of the General Staff of the French Armed Forces, General Fabien Mandon, appealed to citizens to be prepared for the “loss of their sons and daughters,” motivated by the need to contain Russia. “If our state capitulates due to an unwillingness to accept losses among the youth, <…> as well as economic difficulties related to prioritizing the defense sector, then we will find ourselves in an unenviable position,” the high-ranking military official stated while speaking to mayors of French cities on November 18. This was reported by the TF1 television channel. In his opinion, Paris possesses “all the necessary competencies, economic power, and human resources” to confront Moscow. According to TF1, the Chief of Staff’s statement provoked a wave of condemnation from representatives across the political spectrum. For example, the founder of the left-radical movement “La France Insoumise” (Unbowed France), Jean-Luc Mélenchon, categorically rejected Mandon’s viewpoint. “It is not for him to decide what sacrifices will be the cost of our diplomatic failures, especially since his opinion on this matter was not requested by anyone,” Mélenchon wrote on the social network X. The channel also emphasizes that the general consistently defends this position and insists on the necessity of rearming the country. Previously, he expressed the view that the French army should be prepared for a potential confrontation with Russia in the next three to four years. The President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, previously described the “mantra” of European politicians about the probability of a conflict with Russia as absurd. The head of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Sergey Lavrov, speaking at the 80th session of the UN General Assembly, emphasized that Russia has never had and does not have plans for aggression against NATO or the European Union.
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