AFP/HuffPost Editing
Sergei Choïgu and Sébastien Lecornu, Russian and French Defense Ministers, had a telephone conversation on April 3, 2024.
INTERNATIONAL – It’s a thinly veiled threat. After a call between the Russian and French defense ministries this Wednesday April 3 to discuss in particular the terrorist attack which took place in Moscow at the end of March, the Kremlin warned against any involvement of Paris in this attack.
“The kyiv regime does nothing without the approval of its Western supervisors. We hope that, in this case, the French secret services are not behind this”, indicated Sergei Shoigu, in the press release from his ministry reporting the call. Although the attack was claimed by the Islamic State group, Russia insists on seeing it as the hand of Ukraine and its Western allies.
This one-hour conversation, the first since October 2022, took place at the initiative of Paris which recalled that France “ had no information enabling a link between this attack and Ukraine to be established” and asked Moscow to “ stop all exploitation”.
144 dead in a concert hall
Paris had also previously claimed that, during this call, French Minister of the Armed Forces Sébastien Lecornu had “recalled the availability of France” Has “increased trade” with Russia in the fight against “terrorism” after the March 22 attack claimed by ISIS.
On March 22, armed men entered a concert hall before opening fire on the crowd and setting the building on fire. At least 144 people died and 360 were injured in this attack claimed by IS.
The Russian ministry also once again returned to the recent controversial remarks of Emmanuel Macron, who estimated in February that sending troops to Ukraine could not ” be excluded “. “Sergueï Choïgu indicated that if (these declarations, Editor’s note) were implemented, it would create problems for France itself”affirmed the Russian ministry.
Frying on the line
The interview also touched on the war in Ukraine, and there appears to be some frying on the line between Paris and Moscow. The Russian ministry indeed declared in its press release that“a willingness to dialogue regarding Ukraine was noted. The starting point could be “The Istanbul Peace Initiative”.
Comments, a priori unexpected on the part of France, immediately denied by Paris. The Russian minister clearly stated “ be ready to resume the dialogue on Ukraine” but “ France neither accepted nor offered anything” on this subject, the French minister’s entourage told AFP.
Sébastien Lecornu had earlier indicated in a press release that he “ unreservedly condemned the war of aggression that Russia has launched in Ukraine” during this call.
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