This handout photograph released and taken by the French Ministry of the Armed Forces and Veterans on October 6, 2026 shows French President Emmanuel Macron (L) attending the first test launch of a new intercontinental missile, fired from a nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine off the coast of Finistere, western France, on October 6, 2026. (Photo by Benjamin PAPIN / French Ministry of the Armed Forces and Veterans / AFP)
Moscow: France's test-firing of a nuclear-capable missile showed Europe was militarising, the Kremlin said Wednesday, adding that Russia was monitoring the situation closely.
The test took place on Tuesday off the France's west coast, the country's defence ministry said.
The missile -- a variant of the M51 -- was not carrying a warhead and fell "in the North Atlantic, hundreds of kilometres from any coastline", the ministry said.
French President Emmanuel Macron described the test as a success, saying in a video that it sent a "strong and clear" message.
"Europe is obsessed with the idea of militarisation," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters when asked about Macron's comments.
"Against the backdrop of such aggressive actions and such plans, Russia is on its guard. We are monitoring all this closely."
Tension is rising between Russia and Ukraine's European allies, among them France, over the Ukraine war.
NATO has accused Russia of carrying out an escalating campaign of hybrid warfare against Kyiv's European backers, an accusation Moscow rejects.
