ANY French military instructors in Ukraine would be a “legitimate target” for Moscow’s armed forces, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov warned during a tour of Africa.

He made the remarks on Tuesday at a joint news conference with Republic of Congo Foreign Minister Jean Claude Gakosso.

Referring to the military instructors that France has said it could send to train Ukrainian troops, Mr Lavrov said: “As for the French instructors, I think they are already on Ukrainian territory.

“Regardless of their status, military officials or mercenaries represent a legitimate target for our armed forces.”

Ukraine’s top commander said last week that he had signed paperwork allowing French military instructors to access Ukrainian training centres soon. 

But French President Emmanuel Macron said at the time that he would not comment on “rumours or decisions that could be made.”

He added that he would elaborate on France’s support during this week’s 80th anniversary commemorations of D-Day.

Mr Macron’s office said that it would not comment on Mr Lavrov’s remarks. 

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov also said on Tuesday that “instructors who train the Kiev regime’s troops don’t have any sort of immunity and it doesn’t matter whether they are French or not.”

Previous leaks have exposed the presence of British and US special forces in Ukraine.

In recent years, a number of African countries have expressed growing frustration with the influence of Western powers including France and the United States. Some of them have instead turned to Russia to seek help in fighting Islamist insurgencies.

Mr Lavrov also dismissed the Ukraine peace conference due to take place later this month, to which Russia has not been invited, saying on Tuesday: “This conference in Switzerland has no meaning.

“The only meaning it can have is to try to preserve this anti-Russian bloc, which is in the process of crumbling.”

The Republic of Congo was the second stop in Mr Lavrov’s tour. He visited Guinea on Monday and met the country’s foreign minister.

Late on Tuesday, he landed at the airport of the Burkina Faso capital Ouagadougou, the country’s authorities said on social media. 

Mr Lavrov was scheduled to have a meeting yesterday with Captain Ibrahim Traore, who took power following a 2022 military coup. 

The Russian foreign minister was expected in Chad later in the day, the country’s authorities said.