VIDEO. If Russia attacked Ukraine tomorrow, what would France's position be?

The last Ukrainian crisis dates back to 2014, but has never calmed down.

After massing 100,000 men on the Russian-Ukrainian border, Russia proposed a treaty to the United States and Europe to try to agree on certain points.

The negotiations are difficult, as the two blocs have conflicting interests, in particular concerning the enlargement of NATO and its positions in Eastern Europe.

If the negotiations fail, a Russian attack on Ukrainian soil is not impossible.

In this case, France could not act by itself.

Jean de Gliniasty, research director at IRIS, former diplomat and French ambassador to Russia, explains that Paris usually reacts in concert with its European partners on external security issues, not alone.

But the European Union has been subtly excluded from the question, to the benefit of the two Russian and American blocs, which lead the dance by doing without the Europeans.

Read alsoUkraine: 5 minutes to understand the stakes of the negotiations between Washington and Moscow

Economic sanctions against Russia remain the official response to a potential Russian invasion.

The statements of each camp reinforce the idea of ​​a possible conflict: The Russians whistle that "their patience is at an end" and that they will "take military and technical measures of reprisal" "in the event of maintaining the line very clearly aggressive towards [their] Western colleagues".

The United States yesterday threatened the Russians with "a severe response" in the event of a military attack against Ukraine.