Russia will target Paris Olympics, Macron says
President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday said he had no doubt that Russia would seek to disrupt the upcoming Paris Olympics as the Kremlin warned it was now in direct confrontation with Nato.
The war of words erupted as Mr Macron also denounced the “bizarre and threatening” tone of Russia’s defence minister after rare phone talks with his French counterpart.
On Wednesday, Sébastien Lecornu, the French defence minister, reached out to his Russian counterpart Sergei Shoigu, saying France was ready to step up exchanges to battle terrorism, according to the French defence ministry
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov earlier told reporters: “Relations have now slipped to the level of direct confrontation” with the US-led alliance, which is marking its 75 anniversary.
Nato was “already involved in the conflict surrounding Ukraine (and) continues to move towards our borders and expand its military infrastructure towards our borders”, he said.
When asked whether he was concerned that Russia may target France during the Paris Games during a visit to inaugurate a new swimming complex outside Paris, Mr Macron said: “I have no doubt, including in the informational (news) space.
“(Russia) feeds every day into the idea that we shouldn’t do this or that, that there is a risk and that’s why we must stand firm. Strength of character, self-confidence and the relationship with the truth are the great strengths of democracies and great nations.”
According to the Russian defence ministry, Russia warned France during the one-hour talks between defence ministers that it hoped the French secret services had not been involved in the recent attack on a concert hall in Moscow – for which Islamic State extremists claimed responsibility.
“The comments by the Russian side were bizarre and threatening,” Mr Macron told reporters, adding that any suggestions France might have been involved in the deadly attack were ridiculous.
He said France had been in contact with Russia as Paris had useful information to share on the origin and organisation of the attack that claimed the lives of at least 144 people.
‘Message of solidarity’
“I asked the directors of the services at the appropriate ministries to have technical discussions with their (Russian) counterparts to express a message of solidarity and because we had useful information – I am not going to reveal it here – on the origin and organisation of this attack,” said Mr Macron.
“It’s ridiculous to say that France is behind it, that the Ukrainians are behind it. It makes no sense. It does not correspond to reality, it’s a manipulation of information which is part of Russia’s arsenal of war.”
The phone talks were seen by some observers as a change of tack for Mr Macron, who has in recent months toughened his line against Russia, refusing to rule out putting troops on the ground in Ukraine.
Defending his approach, Mr Macron said: “We will have joint work with all those affected by terrorism. And when we have information we have technical exchanges.”
After the talks between Mr Lecornu and Mr Shoigu, Moscow also said that “readiness for dialogue on Ukraine was noted” during the phone call.
France immediately shot down that suggestion.
“France neither accepted nor proposed anything of the sort” on the conflict, said a French defence ministry source.
