Political scientist Dubien: President Macron considered that France and the United States have different interests in Russia
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Paris and Washington have different interests in relations with Russia. This is how the head of the Franco-Russian Observatory Analytical Center, Valdai Club expert Arnaud Dubien explained to Lente.ru the desire of French President Emmanuel Macron to conduct an independent dialogue with Moscow.
The political scientist recalled that in the summer of 2019, a week after meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Bregançon, Macron, after meeting with Putin, indicated that Paris and its partners had different interests in relation to Moscow, referring to Washington.
Dubien noted that in matters of establishing contacts with the Russian side, the French president may face dissatisfaction with countries such as Poland and Sweden, as well as the Baltic states. According to him, they can reproach Macron that during the French presidency of the EU Council, he speaks for himself, and not on behalf of the entire union.
“This is the main contradiction of Macron’s eastern policy: on the one hand, he does not think of France’s policy outside the EU, and on the other hand, his constructive approach towards Moscow is “perishing”, sometimes nullified, in the course of seeking consensus with the EU countries, hostilely tuned in relation to Russia, ”concluded the expert.
On January 19, during a speech in the European Parliament, Macron said that the European Union needs an independent dialogue with Moscow on issues of collective security and arms control without mediation from Washington. “I believe that coordination between Europe and the United States is good, but it is absolutely necessary that the Europeans themselves conduct a dialogue with Russia,” he stressed.
