President Emmanuel Macron condemned Russia’s “threatening” rhetoric following rare phone discussions between the French and Russian defense ministers.
These talks only emphasized the significant divide between Moscow and Europe, which has persisted for two years since the invasion of Ukraine.
Analysts suggest that this communication, occurring after the deadly Moscow attack attributed to the Islamic State, is unlikely to lead to any change in strategy from either Russia or France. Macron, who has not dismissed the possibility of deploying ground troops to Ukraine, remains firm on his stance.
During the one-hour call, French Defence Minister Sebastien Lecornu informed Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu, a close ally of President Vladimir Putin, that France is prepared to enhance collaboration in combating terrorism, as reported by the French defense ministry.
This communication coincided with France’s extensive efforts to prepare for hosting the Olympic Games in Paris this summer.
Meanwhile, Russia cautioned France, expressing hope that French intelligence agencies were not involved in the recent attack on a concert hall in Moscow, which was claimed by extremists from the Islamic State group, according to a statement from the Russian defense ministry.
“The comments by the Russian side were bizarre and threatening,” Macron told reporters, adding that any suggestions France might have been involved in the deadly attack were “ridiculous”.
Macron stated that France had communicated with Russia because Paris possessed “valuable information” to share regarding the origin and orchestration of the attack on the Crocus City Hall concert venue, resulting in the deaths of at least 144 people.
“I asked the directors of the services at the appropriate ministries to have technical discussions with their (Russian) counterparts to express a message of solidarity and because we had useful information — I am not going to reveal it here — on the origin and organisation of this attack,” Macron said.
“It’s ridiculous to say that France is behind it, that the Ukrainians are behind it… It does not correspond to reality, it’s a manipulation of information which is part of Russia’s arsenal of war,” he added.
The Kremlin and Russian propaganda have promoted the notion that the West and Ukraine were associated with the attackers—a claim that has been rejected as absurd by Western nations and Kyiv. Following the discussions between Lecornu and Shoigu, Moscow stated that “willingness for dialogue on Ukraine was acknowledged” during the phone call. However, France promptly dismissed this suggestion.
