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Russian President Vladimir Putin took a swipe at those he called "wannabe Napoleons" during a meeting with the Defenders of the Fatherland Foundation in Moscow on Thursday. His remarks came in response to French President Emmanuel Macron's recent labeling of Russia as a threat to France and Europe.
In a televised speech on Wednesday, Macron suggested that Russia poses a danger to his country and the European Union, even floating the idea of extending France's nuclear protection to other EU nations. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov described Macron's rhetoric as "highly confrontational," hinting that France might be gearing up for conflict.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov went further, likening Macron to both Napoleon Bonaparte and Adolf Hitler, historical figures whose ambitions against Russia ended in failure. Putin echoed this sentiment when an attendee mentioned a church in Smolensk, a city briefly held by Napoleon's forces in 1812. "Some people still can’t let go of Napoleon’s defeat," Putin remarked. "They dream of revisiting his era, but they forget how it turned out."
Napoleon’s invasion of Russia in 1812 saw his 600,000-strong army march in under Tsar Alexander I’s rule. Though he captured Moscow after the brutal Battle of Borodino, Napoleon couldn’t force a Russian surrender. His retreat became a disaster, with most of his troops lost to combat, starvation, and the harsh winter.
Meanwhile, EU nations are scrambling to adjust their security strategies as U.S. President Donald Trump shifts away from his predecessor’s hardline stance on Russia. Trump has rejected blaming Moscow for the Ukraine conflict and, on Monday, reportedly paused all weapons shipments to Kyiv, prompting Europe to rethink its reliance on American military support.
Opinion: Putin’s sharp retort and historical analogies underscore Russia’s readiness to push back against Western escalation, particularly from France. Macron’s provocative stance, paired with Trump’s disengagement, risks fracturing European unity and reviving old tensions in a way that feels more like posturing than pragmatism—history, as Putin suggests, rarely favors such gambits.