By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com
A French intelligence official told a French National Assembly committee March 25th that he saw no evidence that Russian military forces have been planning an invasion of Ukraine, according to an official transcript and Russian language press reports.
| With all respect to the French intel officer who I am sure is a good and smart man, the Russians are masters at hiding what their military is going to do... |
Gomart said that the US and NATO hypothesis of a Russian military invasion was not supported by the usual indications.
According to the translation of the minutes of the meeting, speaking to the ongoing mystery of the presence of Russian troops inside of Ukraine, Gomart said: "...if Russian soldiers were actually seen in Ukraine, it was more of a ploy to put pressure on Ukrainian President Poroshenko than an attempted invasion."
This story broke in the Russian press and in Russian supported press less than four hours ago. But for the minutes of the meeting in the National Assembly, and the fact that Russia Today had still not picked it up, I would not have believed the story.
Chris Covert writes about foreign military issues for Rantburg.com. He can be reached at grurkka@gmail.com and on Twitter. You can read past articles about the 2014 war in southeastern Ukraina by clicking here.