It is no longer in France's interest to
"discuss with Russian officials"
, the French Minister of Foreign Affairs declared on Monday after a recent telephone conversation between Russian and French army ministers which ended in reckoning made divergent.
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“It is not our interest today to discuss with Russian officials since the press releases that come out, the reports that are made are false
,” Stéphane Séjourné declared to the media France24 and RFI from Abidjan, where the minister was finishing a tour of Africa.
“Building Trust”
After a conversation on Wednesday between Defense Ministers Sébastien Lecornu and Sergueï Choïgou which aimed to transmit
“useful information”
to the Russians on the Moscow attack, French President Emmanuel Macron denounced Thursday
“baroque and threatening comments”
Russians. In its report of the interview, undertaken by Paris, Russia notably said it
“hoped”
that the French secret services were not involved in this attack which left 144 dead on March 22. Speculations denied by Paris.
Before being able to talk to the Russians again,
“we must perhaps first establish trust, perhaps above all have developments on the military ground in Ukraine so that relations can be renewed. This is not still the case today
,” said Mr. Séjourné. Mr. Macron justified the initiative of the exchange between French and Russian ministers, the first since October 2022, by the fact that France had precisely
“useful information”
to transmit
“on the origins and organization of this attack”
claimed by the Islamic State (IS) organization.
According to Mr. Séjourné, the
“long tradition with Russia of cooperation in matters of terrorism”
is now at a standstill.
“In fact, it does not continue since it was a proposal and the Russian communiqué in reality, in Russian language, proposes that we do not have cooperation
,” he concluded.