A war of words between the Russian and French embassies in Türkiye spilled onto social media on Wednesday, triggering a brief diplomatic stir and highlighting escalating tensions over the war in Ukraine.
The dispute began after Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service claimed that the United Kingdom and France were considering providing Ukraine with nuclear or “dirty bomb” capabilities. Russian Security Council Deputy Chairperson Dmitry Medvedev warned that such a move would prompt a nuclear response.
The allegations sparked strong reactions and quickly reverberated through diplomatic channels, including exchanges – mostly in Turkish – between the two countries’ missions in Ankara.
Russia’s Embassy in Ankara shared remarks by Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, stating that Moscow remains open to political and diplomatic solutions but that the situation depends on what it called the “Kyiv regime’s actions.” The post also argued that any plan to transfer nuclear weapons to Ukraine would violate international law.
France’s Embassy in Ankara responded with a pointed message: “The supposedly three-day war has entered its fifth year, and Russia is still making statements that ‘deterrence is a threat.’”
Russia’s mission then fired back in French, accusing Paris of supporting what it called the Kyiv “regime” and criticizing what it described as the decline of French diplomacy, adding that France was among the main backers of Ukraine since 2014.
The unusually public spat between the diplomatic missions quickly trended online, reflecting the deepening geopolitical rift over the Ukraine conflict.
