“We hope that the next meeting of the Russian-French Security Cooperation Council (SECB) with the participation of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Defense can be organized in the second half of this year,” RIA Novosti quoted him as saying.
Paramonov emphasized that the “2 + 2” format allows Russia and France to develop common positions on modern threats.
“The ongoing intensification of bilateral contacts and the expansion of their agenda allow us to gradually return the political dialogue with France to the level corresponding to the status of two nuclear powers and permanent members of the UN Security Council,” the diplomat noted.
Earlier, the special representative of the French leader in Russia, Jean-Pierre Schevenman, called the idea of isolating Russia untrue.
French President Emmanuel Macron, in turn, called for a transparent dialogue with Moscow and for building a new security architecture with her participation.
As noted in the Russian Foreign Ministry, the past year 2019 was marked by a warming in Russian-French relations: the parties increased bilateral contacts and expanded their agenda.