Members of the French government are concerned about the Ukraine conflict spiraling out of control and are now exercising “great discretion,” Le Monde reported on Saturday, citing diplomatic sources.

Fears of the confrontation escalating into a direct collision between Moscow and the NATO bloc have skyrocketed over the past few days, as the US and its allies reportedly consider authorizing Kiev to conduct strikes deep in Russian territory using Western weaponry.

While France has announced “no official position” on the matter, unnamed diplomats in private conversations admitted to the French daily that Paris has been concerned about potential escalation and has been trying to avoid it.

Exterior of the Élysee

“We must do everything possible to avoid World War III,” an unnamed official told the newspaper.

“One cannot simply dismiss the hypothesis that the Russians could expand the scale of their military operations,” the official added, referring to the warnings voiced by top Russian officials, including Russian President Vladimir Putin.

READ MORE: US can’t hide from nuclear war – Moscow

On Thursday, Putin warned that removing restrictions on Ukraine’s use of Western weapons would directly involve the US and its allies in the conflict and would be met with an appropriate response. Explaining his stance, the president said that such weaponry relies solely on Western intelligence and targeting solutions, with Kiev effectively unable to use it on its own.

That position has been reiterated by Russia’s envoy to the UN, Vassily Nebenzia, who warned the move would constitute an “open war” between NATO and Russia. “Our Western colleagues will not be able to dodge responsibility and blame Kiev for everything,” Nebenzia stated.

.

.

[source: https://www.rt.com/russia/603985-nato-war-russia/]

Granting Kiev permission to use Western-supplied long-range weapons would constitute direct involvement in the Ukraine conflict by NATO, Russia’s envoy to the UN, Vassily Nebenzia, has said.

Moscow will treat any such attack as coming from the US and its allies directly, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday, explaining that long-range weapons rely on Western intelligence and targeting solutions, neither of which Ukraine is capable of.

NATO countries would “start an open war” with Russia if they allow Ukraine to use long-range weapons, Nebenzia told the UN Security Council on Friday.

“If such a decision is made, that means NATO countries are starting an open war against Russia,” Moscow’s envoy said. “In that case, we will obviously be forced to make certain decisions, with all the attendant consequences for Western aggressors.”

“Our Western colleagues will not be able to dodge responsibility and blame Kiev for everything,” Nebenzia added. “Only NATO troops can program the flight solutions for those missile systems. Ukraine doesn’t have that capability. This is not about allowing Kiev to strike Russia with long-range weapons, but about the West making the targeting decisions.”

Russia considers it irrelevant that Ukrainian nationalists would technically be the ones pulling the trigger, Nebenzia explained. “NATO would become directly involved in military action against a nuclear power. I don’t think I have to explain what consequences that would have,” he said.

The US and its allies placed some restrictions on the use of their weapons, so they could claim not to be directly involved in the conflict with Russia, while arming Ukraine to the tune of $200 billion.

Multiple Western outlets have reported that the limitations might be lifted this week, as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and British Foreign Secretary David Lammy [a negro!] visited Kiev. Russia has repeatedly warned the West against such a course of action.