“Russia will not stop there”, but France “will not give up the fight with the Ukrainians”, maintains the head of French diplomacy

Stéphane Séjourné also accuses “Russia of attacking France on the information side”, affirming that “informational destabilization maneuvers are underway”.

“We have information [selon lesquelles] Russia will not stop there”says Friday March 1 on France Inter Stéphane Séjourné, French Minister of Foreign Affairs. He refers in particular to the situation in Modalvie, where separatists from the Transnistria region requested protection from Moscow at the end of February.

Stéphane Séjourné draws a parallel with the Sudeten episode. In “September 1938”, Hitler demanded that this Czechoslovak territory be ceded to the Third Reich, even winning his case at the Munich conference. “We cannot find ourselves in the same period as in September 1938, when we abandoned Czechoslovakia for an ephemeral peace,” maintains the head of French diplomacy. Although he recognizes that we are not in the same situation, he still notes that “history repeats itself”. Stéphane Séjourné therefore wants to draw “a lesson” from the Sudeten crisis and insists on the fact that a “stepping aside in the face of an imperialist power gives it the opportunity to take a step forward.”

France “on the right side of history”

The Minister of Foreign Affairs also accuses the “Russia to attack on the informational side” France. “Informational destabilization maneuvers are underway”, he insists. Stéphane Séjourné discusses in particular the digital interference coming from Russia revealed in mid-February by Paris and based on “193 dormant sites” intended to publish pro-Russian content on a large scale.

The head of French diplomacy specifies that a “organization of disinformation and manipulation of public opinions in the context of public opinions in the context of the European elections was in preparation”. He recognizes that France is therefore “in a fragile situation with the preparation of the European elections and the Olympic Games”. But Stéphane Séjourné assures that “France will not allow us to attack [ses] public services, [ses] transport, [ses] hospitals”.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs also returned to the comments made on Monday by Emmanuel Macron on the hypothesis of sending Western troops to Ukraine. He justifies these declarations by ensuring that they participate in “strategic ambiguity” but allow France to be “on the right side of history”. Stéphane Séjourné maintains that Paris will not send “no combat military troops”. “The French will not die for Ukraine”he emphasizes.

Stéphane Séjourné recalls “the clear framework” set by France, namely “to defeat Russia without making war on Russia”, “to prevent Russia from winning, without waging war” in Moscow. And this “the framework set by the President of the Republic to exclude nothing allows us to send a very clear message to Russia that we will not give up the fight with the Ukrainians”he adds.