Emmanuel Macron is meeting Vladimir Putin this Monday. The French head of state has only one objective, the de-escalation of the Ukrainian crisis, especially since he comes to Moscow with the double hat of president of France and president of the Council of the Union. European for six months. In power since 1999, Vladimir Putin is a central figure in Russian politics. In more than 20 years, the master of the Kremlin has known no less than four French presidents. And he had very different relationships with each of them. Europe 1 looks back on two decades of Franco-Russian relations.
With Jacques Chirac, a story of esteem
Vladimir Putin nicknamed Jacques Chirac “the professor”. The current head of state has often been charmed by the culture of the deceased French president, who spoke Russian. “He really impressed Vladimir Poutine”, explained the journalist Charles Villeneuve on Europe 1, at the time of the death of Jacques Chirac. And it is not simply by speaking his language that he marked the spirit of the Russian president. During a diplomatic meeting, “Vladimir Putin discovered that he had an erudition on the genius and the talent of the Russian people”, described the journalist again. A friendship that lasted until the death of the former French president.
Complicated beginnings with Nicolas Sarkozy
© PATRICK KOVARIK / AFP
Between Nicolas Sarkozy and Vladimir Poutine, the beginnings were a bit complicated. Their first tete-a-tete, on the sidelines of the G8 in 2007, gave a now famous image of a staggering Nicolas Sarkozy, suspected of being drunk. In 2016, journalist Nicolas Hénin explained in a documentary that the French head of state had been put down by Vladimir Poutine: “Either you continue in this tone and I crush you, or you stop talking like that and you will see”, he would have threatened in particular. As the years passed, the relationship evolved more serenely. After leaving the Élysée, Nicolas Sarkozy met Vladimir Poutine several times. The ex-president was even invited to the private residence of the Russian president.
Cold relations with François Hollande
© YURI KADOBNOV / AFP
François Hollande’s five-year term was marked by the start of the war in Syria, which cracked Franco-Russian relations. It is then the Ukrainian crisis of 2014 which completes to degrade the agreement between the two countries. In October 2016, it was again the Syrian crisis that divided the two heads of state. Vladimir Putin cancels a visit to Paris at the last moment, in repercussions of statements by François Hollande to the press, tackling the bombing of civilians in Syria. The two men find themselves in Berlin a few days later, in an icy atmosphere. Until the end of François Hollande’s mandate, relations will not warm up.
Macron/Putin, a damaged relationship
© ALEXEI DRUZHININ / SPUTNIK / AFP
The coming to power of Emmanuel Macron in May 2017 marks a new turning point in Franco-Russian relations. It begins at the Palace of Versailles, where the brand new tenant of the Élysée invites the Russian head of state. Two years later, a new invitation, this time to Fort Brégançon. Between the two men, the balance of power is permanent. “He is strong and intelligent, but he is not naive. I respect him. I know him. I am lucid”, said Emmanuel Macron in April 2018 on Fox News. A muscular relationship tinged with pragmatism. And the meeting scheduled for tonight should be no exception. Vladimir Putin warned Emmanuel Macron: “I’m waiting for you, I want to get to the bottom of things with you.”