France will defend the territorial integrity of Ukraine,

reported the French newspaper L’Orient-Le Jour. Emmanuel Macron expressed to Vladimir Putin “our strong concern and our will to defend the whole of Ukraine’s territory.” The United States, the European Union, and France have already criticized in recent days over this deployment of Russian troops on the Ukrainian border. “We must prevent a military escalation,” a spokesman for the German Foreign Ministry told Berlin, calling on Russia to “show restraint” and “return to the negotiating.