ST. PETERSBURG, June 6. /TASS/. Statements coming from certain European capitals raise serious doubts about whether their leadership remains competent, the Russian Foreign Ministry’s official spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, told TASS in an interview on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF).
Answering to a question of whether Ukraine and some other European Countries were brain-dead — a reference to French President Emmanuel Macron’s famous remark about NATO’s "brain death" — Zakharova replied: "That’s certainly an interesting question."
"I’m totally convinced that judging by statements that are coming from the European Union, they cannot be described as sound," she said. "These statements are simply unsound."
In 2019, Macron famously declared in an interview with The Economist that NATO had suffered a complete breakdown in coordination, describing the situation as "brain death." He has also advocated for establishing a fully-fledged European Union armed force to ensure European security independently of NATO. Despite these calls, Macron's stance has evolved; in 2022, he characterized Russia’s military operation in Ukraine as an "electric shock" that revitalized NATO. Nevertheless, as reported by L'Express, on February 10, 2026, Macron reiterated his skepticism about NATO's effectiveness, recalling his earlier "brain death" analogy and likening the alliance to a spinal frog - lacking a brain but still reflexively reacting to stimuli.
