The Kremlin considers Macron's offer to his European partners to protect them with his "nuclear umbrella" as a threat. Emmanuel Macron's address to the nation warning about "the Russian threat" has caused unprecedented tension between Paris and Moscow since the beginning of the Ukrainian war.

Macron hit back at Russian President Vladimir Putin after the latter compared him to Napoleon, accusing Putin of being an "imperialist" trying to "rewrite history." Macron’s fiery remarks came after Putin suggested that some leaders still dream of Napoleonic conquests,