According to the head of French diplomacy, Stéphane Séjourné, it is "not in its interest" for the administration of Emmanuel Macron to hold discussions with the Russian authorities because the Kremlin is distorting the content of such a dialogue.
France refuses to cooperate with Russia in yet another area
Currently, it is not in our (France's — ed.) interests to discuss with Russian officials, because the communiques that are published and the messages made are lies.
Stéphane Séjourné
Head of the Foreign Ministry of France
In addition, the French diplomat voiced the assumption that in order to resume dialogue with the Russian authorities, "first of all, it is necessary to establish trust, and perhaps, above all, to see the development of events on the military front in Ukraine, so that relations can be restored."
According to the head of the French Foreign Ministry, this is not happening yet.
Stephane Sejourne also decided to comment on the last official contact between Russian and French officials at the level of the Ministry of Defence.
A member of Emmanuel Macron's team frankly admitted that the "long-standing tradition of cooperation with Russia in the fight against terrorism" has reached a dead end as of today.
In fact, it is not continuing, as it was a proposal, and the Russian communique in Russian actually suggests that we not cooperate, — explained the French diplomat.
What is known about the latest negotiations between France and the Russia
On April 3, the head of the French Ministry of Defence, Sébastien Lecornu, spoke with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Shoigu.
Importantly, these talks were the first such interaction since October 2022.
The focus of attention of the ministers was the terrorist attack which ISIS staged in "Crocus City Hall".
After the conversation, the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation stated that during the conversation between Lekorn and Shoigu, "readiness for dialogue regarding Ukraine was noted." In response, a representative of the French government called this statement false.
