France and Russia took a different view of Wednesday’s telephone conversation between French Defence Minister Sébastien Lecornu and his Russian counterpart Sergei Shoigu, a rare instance of high-level contact between two countries whose relations have been strained by the military conflict in Ukraine, RFI reports.
Russia said that Shoigu and Lecornu discussed the possibility of talks on the Ukrainian conflict, which France immediately denied. The Russian defence ministry said in a statement on the unexpected call, which Moscow said was initiated by France:
“Readiness for dialogue on Ukraine was noted. The starting points could be based on the Istanbul peace initiative.”
Last month, Turkey said it was ready to once again host a peace summit between Russia and Ukraine, but Kyiv has rejected the idea of direct talks with Moscow. A source close to Lecornu quickly denied that France was backing the plan. The source told the AFP news agency:
“France neither accepted nor proposed anything of the sort.”
France’s defence ministry acknowledged that the pair had discussed the war in Ukraine, but stressed that Lecornu confirmed French support for Kyiv. The French ministry said in a statement:
“France will continue to support Ukraine as long and as intensely as necessary in its fight for freedom and sovereignty, in order to bring peace and security to the European continent.”
Russia and France said the ministers discussed the deadly terrorist attack at a Moscow concert hall that killed at least 144 people and for which the armed group Islamic State claimed responsibility.
Russian President Vladimir Putin acknowledged that “radical Islamists” carried out the attack, but suggested they were linked to Ukraine. According to a statement from the Russian defence ministry, Shoigu told Lecornu that he hoped France was not involved. Shoigu was quoted as saying:
“The Kyiv regime does nothing without the approval of Western curators. We trust that in this case French special services are not behind it.”
Lecornu said France had no information to link with Ukraine and called on Moscow to “stop any instrumentalisation” of the attack, the French defence ministry said. The French minister also told Shoigu that France was ready for an “enhanced exchange of views” with Russia to fight “terrorism” after the attack.
In March, French President Emmanuel Macron said France had offered Russian security services “enhanced co-operation” by establishing contacts at a “technical and ministerial level” rather than direct talks with Putin.
Lecornu and Shoigu last held telephone talks in October 2022, following a series of phone calls between Macron and Putin, the last of which took place in September that year.
Macron has hardened his line on Russia in recent months, refusing to rule out putting troops on the ground in Ukraine.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken had a telephone conversation in April 2023. Lavrov regularly travels to G20 meetings, but there is no indication that he speaks directly with Western officials there.
