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French President Emmanuel Macron: "It is a manipulation of information that is part of the war arsenal"

Photo: Eric Tschaen / Bestimage / IMAGO

It started as an offer of help and ended as an affront. After a telephone conversation between French Defense Minister Sébastien Lecornu and his Russian counterpart Sergei Shoigu, Paris accused Moscow of "manipulating information." The Russian side's comments on the phone call between the two ministers were "bizarre and threatening," said French President Emmanuel Macron. "It is a manipulation of information that is part of the war arsenal," Macron added.

The starting point was a conversation between the two defense ministers, which came about on a French initiative. It was the first direct high-level contact since October 2022.

According to French sources, Lecornu wanted to provide Russia with "useful information" about the background to the recent attack on a concert hall near Moscow that left 144 dead. Shortly after the attack, which the jihadist militia “Islamic State” claimed as its own, Macron offered Russia cooperation in the fight against terrorism.

Russia reacts piqued to France's offer

Lecornu also stated that France had “no evidence of a connection between the attack and Ukraine.” He called on Moscow to “stop any instrumentalization” of the attack.

The Russian side reacted with pique. »The regime in Kiev does nothing without the consent of its Western overseers. We hope that the French secret service is not behind this case,” the Russian Defense Ministry said after the phone call.

According to the Russian account, the defense ministers are also said to have discussed starting a dialogue about Ukraine - which Paris immediately denied.

The suggestion that French intelligence could have been involved in the attack in Moscow sparked strong criticism in Paris. "It's ridiculous to say that France or Ukraine could be behind it," said Macron on the sidelines of the inauguration of a water sports center for the Olympic Games.

This is further evidence of "Russia's increasingly aggressive attitude, which not only affects France," said Macron. Among other things, he referred to the Taurus wiretapping affair in the Bundeswehr. "There is a whole series of false information, which points to a threatening attitude," he emphasized.

At least 144 people were killed in the attack on March 22nd at the fully occupied Crocus City Hall in the Moscow suburb of Krasnogorsk. Russian President Vladimir Putin had established a connection to Ukraine, regardless of the Islamic State's allegiance.

At the beginning of the war, Macron intensively sought contact with Putin and tried to negotiate directly with him longer than other Western heads of state. However, there has been no official exchange since October 2022.

muk/dpa