The move was intended to serve as a reminder of the responsibilities of nuclear-weapon states.
French President Emmanuel Macron called Vladimir Putin on July 1 to discuss the situation surrounding the Iranian nuclear program.
This was stated by the Minister of the Armed Forces of France, Sebastien Lecornu, in an interview with the newspaper Valeurs actuelles.
“Nuclear states have special obligations to each other. The last time President Macron called President Putin was in September 2022 about the Zaporizhia Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine, again about nuclear energy. When the president instructed me to call Sergei Shoigu, the former Russian Minister of Defense, the conversation was also, in essence, about nuclear issues and the fight against terrorism. This is the principle of the “red telephone” that we see in Cold War films: nuclear powers must talk to each other.”
According to the minister, such contacts have deep meaning and are not useless:
“By entering into dialogue with these great powers, we, France, a state possessing nuclear weapons, have the opportunity to remind them of their responsibility. Believe me, these efforts are not in vain.”
Lecornu also stressed that France, as a participant in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on Iran's nuclear program, must play an active diplomatic role, in particular through contacts with other major states – China, Russia, India, Brazil.
“We must work with the members of the UN Security Council, the major nuclear powers, regardless of any disagreements with these countries. They are all guarantors of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT).”
Recall that earlier we wrote that French President Emmanuel Macron and Russian dictator Putin spoke on the phone for the first time since 2022. Then the French president called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to discuss current issues.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the conversation with Macron lasted more than two hours and was “meaningful.”
