Lavrov slams Paris' claims about absence of French instructors in Ukraine as lies

MOSCOW, June 9. /TASS/. The statements of the official Paris that there are no French instructors in Ukraine are nothing but lies, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said.

"Look how our French colleagues have become active, the French Prime Minister [Gabriel Attal] suddenly started saying that we (France - TASS) have no instructors there. This is not true, and they know it," he told reporter Pavel Zarubin.

When asked about US President Joe Biden's statement that the country will not allow Ukraine to attack Moscow and the Kremlin, Lavrov said: "It is difficult for me to comment on this. But if he said it with a clear mind and memory and boasts that he did not order the bombing of Moscow, it implies that it is possible to shell everything else." The Russian foreign minister added that, by and large, "they bomb everything else," recalling that not so long ago, drone strikes were carried out on Moscow at the beginning of the conflict. "Then no one then stopped the regime of [Ukrainian President] Zelensky. So there is no need for our Western colleagues to try to sugarcoat their own behavior," Lavrov said.

The St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) was being held on June 5-8. This year’s theme was "The Formation of New Areas of Growth as the Cornerstone of a Multipolar World." The event was organized by the Roscongress Foundation. TASS was the information partner of the event.

West understood Putin's words about possible arms deliveries to other regions

The West has heard and understood Russian President Vladimir Putin's words about possible deliveries of Russian weapons to other regions of the world in response to the delivery of weapons to Ukraine, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said.

"I have no doubt that they have heard it. I have no doubt that they understand it. There are still people there who know how to analyze and not just engage in escalation to please their radical electorate every day before another election campaign. I think they have understood and will draw conclusions," the top diplomat told reporter Pavel Zarubin.

"This is absolutely, as they say, a symmetrical response. If you arm our enemy, we will decide for ourselves how to respond to your hostile actions," he said of the signal Moscow is sending to the West.

Speaking at a plenary session of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF), Putin said that Russia has not yet supplied long-range weapons to the West's enemies, but reserves the right to do so in response to the arming of Ukraine.

The St. Petersburg International Economic Forum was being held on June 5-8. This year’s theme was "The Formation of New Areas of Growth as the Cornerstone of a Multipolar World." The event was organized by the Roscongress Foundation. TASS was the information partner of the event.