As the real war in Ukraine heats up, rhetoric is also ramping up between Russia’s and France’s officials. “We will cause the total collapse of the Russian economy” through Western economic sanctions imposed after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, said French Finance Minister Bruno Lemaire, promising a full-scale economic war against Russia.

“The balance of economic and financial power is clearly in favour of the European Union, which is discovering its economic power,” the French minister added on the France Info radio network.

Russia’s Deputy Security Council Secretary Dmitry Medvedev, who previously served as Prime Minister and President, responded via Twitter to the threats: “Listen carefully, gentlemen! And do not forget that in human history, economic wars have very often turned into real ones.”

The remarks by Lemaire were also addressed via Telegram by the representative of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Maria Zakharova. “We have already known this. Even before the creation of the European Union. About 800 years ago,” she noted.

Today, some French minister has said that they declared an economic war on Russia. Watch your tongue, gentlemen! And don’t forget that in human history, economic wars quite often turned into real ones

— Dmitry Medvedev (@MedvedevRussiaE) March 1, 2022