French Le Point: “Macron and Putin, deceit, lies and phones” – Al-Hiwar Al-Jazaeryia

The French Le Point magazine stated that the French-Russian rapprochement was shattered on the battlefield in Ukraine after the relationship between President Macron and President Putin was very friendly, and it reached its climax when he invited the French President and his wife Vladimir Putin to “Bregason” for dinner, stressing that the atmosphere was warm and the conversation was lively. But the French president “showed great naivety” when he bet on this relationship and was ultimately bitterly disappointed after failing to convince his friend to abandon his plans to invade Ukraine.

The magazine recalled the day when Vladimir Putin’s diplomatic advisor sent a message to the French saying that his boss was trying to talk to his French counterpart, 3 days before the start of the war, in an unusual step because tension had escalated in Ukraine. Indeed, the talks continued until late, when the French questioned their usefulness, especially since Putin had decided on the war against Ukraine.

The long table incident, the disappointment

Days after the festive banquet, Macron expressed in a speech to the French ambassadors his desire for rapprochement with Russia and said that distancing Russia from Europe would be a big mistake, hinting at his fear of leaving it to be an ally of China.

The magazine added: “Some diplomats tried to warn against the Kremlin game, but the resident of the Elysee Palace continued on his way and agreed to attend the 75th anniversary parade of Russia’s victory over Nazi Germany, but the Covid epidemic thwarted Putin’s plans to display his forces in front of a runway without foreign dignitaries.

After the last meeting that brought together the two presidents in Moscow, and between them a long table, Macron told his companions on the plane that brought him back to France, “The man I met is not the person I know,” and yet he did his best to keep in touch with him.

But the ties between the two presidents were broken, so Macron declared at an international summit, “The time is not for dialogue.” Ambassador Pierre Vimont commented, “Negotiations at the present time will be unfavorable to Westerners. A balance of power must be found at the military level in order to make Moscow realize the need for dialogue.”