(Saint-Denis) President Emmanuel Macron denounced on Thursday the “baroque and threatening comments” from Russia after the meeting the day before between the French and Russian defense ministers, who gave radically different versions.
On Wednesday, French Minister of the Armed Forces Sébastien Lecornu spoke on the telephone with his Russian counterpart Sergei Choïgu, a first since October 2022. The exchange was requested by Paris on the question of counter-terrorism, after the attack on March 22 in the Moscow suburb claimed by the Islamic State (IS) organization.
But Paris and Moscow later provided openly divergent accounts of the discussion. Russia notably said it “hoped” that the French secret services were not involved in this attack, which left at least 144 dead.
“It’s ridiculous, it’s saying that France could be behind, that the Ukrainians are behind […]. All of this makes no sense,” Emmanuel Macron commented on Thursday on the occasion of the inauguration in Saint-Denis, in the Paris suburbs, of an aquatic center for the Paris Olympic Games, denouncing comments “on the Russian side […] baroque and menacing.
It is a manipulation of information that is part of the arsenal of war as it is used today by Russia.
Emmanuel Macron, French president
The French head of state explained the initiative for this exchange by the fact that Paris had precisely “useful information” to transmit “on the origins and organization of this attack”. A “joint work” that Paris carries out according to him “with all those affected by terrorism”, in “responsibility”.
“Instrumentalization”
The initiative provoked its share of reactions in France. Former President François Hollande thus recommended that the government maintain “no contact” with Russia after the “instrumentalization” made by Moscow.
In addition to the veiled accusations of French involvement in the March 22 attack, the Russian Defense Ministry also affirmed Wednesday evening that France and Russia had said they were “ready to dialogue” regarding the conflict in Ukraine. “The starting point could be the ‘Istanbul Peace Initiative,’” he added.
Comments immediately denied by Paris. Mr. Lecornu had earlier said in a press release that he had “unreservedly condemned the war of aggression that Russia has launched in Ukraine” during this telephone conversation.
The latter “seems to be a failed initiative on the part of France”, estimates Mujtaba Rahman, the general director for Europe of the risk analysis firm Eurasia Group. “Moscow is beyond any reasonable discussion with the West, even on common concerns,” he judges, interviewed by AFP.
Emmanuel Macron who, at the very beginning of the war in Ukraine, had played the diplomatic card with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, notably going beyond Kyiv and its allies by declaring that he did not want to “humiliate Russia”, has metamorphosed in recent months into a fervent critic of Moscow.
“Dangerous encounter”
In mid-March, in particular, he called for total support for Ukraine so that “Russia never wins”. A few weeks earlier, the French president had sparked immense controversy by not ruling out a possible sending of troops to Ukrainian soil, which had made him the bête noire of Moscow.
The call from his minister Lecornu to Mr. Choïgou therefore came as a surprise. Especially since high-level discussions have been rare between the Western camp allied to Kyiv and Russia since the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
PHOTO PROVIDED TO THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Sergei Shoigu
For example, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and American Secretary of State Antony Blinken last spoke on the phone in April 2023.
However, it is important for France to continue talking with Russia in order to “maintain normal communication channels through the army”, judges Alexander Gabuev, director of the Carnegie Russia Eurasia center.
The Russian government was perhaps even “flattered” to have received this call, observes Tatiana Stanovaya, director of the political analysis firm R. Politik, which did not prevent Moscow from using it to its advantage. to fuel his anti-Ukrainian speech, without worrying about a possible backlash.
Because “there is no positive agenda at all nor any interest in resuming cooperation with France,” says Mme Stanovaya.
Asked Thursday by a journalist about the resumption of diplomatic initiatives towards Russia, Emmanuel Macron did not answer him.