Contact at this level is rare between the two countries. The French Minister of the Armed Forces spoke by telephone on Wednesday April 3 with his Russian counterpart Sergei Shoigu, a little less than two weeks after the Moscow attack claimed by the Islamic State organization. Sébastien Lecornu last spoke with the Russian Minister of Defense in October 2022.
Sébastien Lecornu "recalled France's availability" for "increased exchanges" with Moscow in the fight against "terrorism", according to a press release from the Ministry of the Armed Forces, which underlines that the French minister has also "unreservedly condemned the war of aggression that Russia launched in Ukraine.
This telephone interview took place in a context of tense relations between Paris and Moscow, while French President Emmanuel Macron said in February that he would not rule out sending ground troops to Ukraine to help it face the Russian invasion. , provoking criticism from Vladimir Putin.
An initiative from Paris
The one-hour conversation was held at the initiative of Paris, which recalled that France "did not have any information allowing it to establish a link between this attack and Ukraine" and asked Russia to “cease all instrumentalization”.
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 the Islamic State group.
The Kremlin admitted that "radical Islamists" had been behind the attack, while denouncing a Ukrainian lead. Twelve suspects were arrested, including the four alleged attackers, from Tajikistan.
The branch of the Islamic State organization suspected of being behind the attack on Moscow "had carried out several attempts in recent months" on French "soil", Emmanuel Macron declared shortly after.
“We have offered the Russian services, as well as our partners in the region, increased cooperation,” said the French president. The United States, for its part, indicated that it had warned Moscow that an attack was being prepared.
The meeting between the two ministers is in itself important, as high-level meetings are rare between the pro-Ukraine Western camp and Russia.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Secretary of State Antony Blinken last spoke on the phone in April 2023, with Sergei Shoigu having spoken with his US counterpart Lloyd Austin the previous month.
Between France and Russia, direct high-level exchanges have been rare since Emmanuel Macron traveled to Moscow to meet Vladimir Putin in the hope of calming tensions with Ukraine, in February 2022, two weeks approximately before the Kremlin launched its "special military operation", denounced by Ukraine and its Western allies as an invasion.
With AFP and Reuters
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