As soon as the European Council ended, Vladimir Putin and Emmanuel Macron launched into history lessons from a distance. “There are still people who want to return to the times of Napoleon, forgetting how it ended,” said the Kremlin chief. Without naming him, he targeted the French president, who, after the green light from the 27 member states to beef up their defense and support Ukraine, repeated in Brussels on Thursday, March 6, that “Russia is an existential threat to us. Not just to Ukraine, not just to its neighbors, but to all of Europe.” On Russian social media in Moscow, Macron was quickly mocked as a powerless Napoleon. And, on television, Putin responded by reminding him of the catastrophic outcome of the Russian campaign in 1812.

“All the mistakes of our enemies and adversaries began in the same way: with a profound underestimation of the Russian character,” said Putin. A history buff like the master of the Kremlin, Macron was quick to respond: “Napoleon carried out conquests. The only imperial power I see today in Europe is Russia,” said the French president. He accused Putin of making “a historical misreading” by comparing him to Napoleon, and described him as a “revisionist imperialist of history and the identity of peoples.”

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