Russia's tone was strange and threatening – Macron on the first contact between defense ministers since 2022

Macron commented on the contact between the defense ministers of France and Russia/Collage 24 Channel< p _ngcontent-sc91 class="news-annotation">President Emmanuel Macron commented on the first contact between the French Defense Minister and his Russian counterpart since 2022. According to the French head, Russia's tone during the conversation was “strange and threatening.”

In particular, the defense ministers of France and Russia discussed the terrorist attack that occurred at Crocus City Hall near Moscow. Another topic of conversation was the war against our country.

Macron spoke about the conversation between Lecornu and Shoigu

During the contact between the two ministers, initiated by the French side, Lecornu said that Paris does not have information that would connect Ukraine with the terrorist attack in the Crocus City Hall shopping center. In addition, he expressed France's readiness to intensify the exchange of information with Russia in the fight against terrorism.

However, during the negotiations, Russia issued a warning to France, expressing hope that the French military was not connected with the attack on the concert hall. Although, according to information from the Russian Ministry of Defense, ISIS extremists took responsibility for the terrorist attack.

The comments from the Russian side were strange and threatening, Macron said to journalists.

The French president also rejected any suggestion that France might have played any role in the recent deadly attack near Moscow, calling such speculation “ridiculous.”

“It's ridiculous to say that France is behind this, that the Ukrainians are behind this. It makes no sense. It's not true, it's a manipulation of information that is part of Russia's military arsenal,” he emphasized French head.

Macron noted that he initiated a conversation with Russia after the terrorist attack that killed at least 144 people. Macron said Paris could share “valuable information” about the origins and organization of the attack. However, he made it clear that he would not reveal what this information was to journalists.

The defense ministers of France and Russia spoke for the first time from 2022

• A telephone conversation between French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu and Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu took place on April 3. The main topics of conversation were the recent terrorist attack in the Russian Crocus City Hall and the war in Ukraine.
• Lecornu strongly condemned the terrorist attack that occurred in the Moscow region on March 22. He also expressed his support and solidarity for the victims and their families.
• After the talks, Lecornu and Shoigu in Moscow also stated that during the telephone conversation “a readiness for dialogue on Ukraine was noted “. France immediately denied this statement.