French President Emmanuel Macron denounced on Thursday “baroque and threatening comments” from the Russians after the meeting the day before between the Defense Ministers of the two countries Sébastien Lecornu and Sergei Choïgu which aimed to transmit “useful information” to the Russians on the attack in Moscow. In its report of this interview, Russia notably said it “hoped” that the French secret services were not involved in this attack which left 144 dead on March 22.
“It’s ridiculous, it’s saying that France could be behind, that the Ukrainians are behind… All that makes no sense. But it’s a manipulation of information which is part of the arsenal of war as it is used today by Russia”, commented the Head of State during the inauguration of an aquatic center for the Paris Olympic Games.
France has “useful information” to transmit on the Moscow attack
Emmanuel Macron justified the initiative of this exchange, the first officially since October 2022, by the fact that France had precisely “useful information” to transmit “on the origins and organization of this attack” claimed by the organization Islamic State (IS). “We have to work together with all those affected by terrorism. And when we have information, have technical exchanges, I think that is our responsibility,” he argued.
The head of state sees it as “the demonstration” of what he has been saying “since the beginning of the year”: “an increase in Russia’s aggressive posture and this is not just happening with France.” “I invite you to look at what has been done in terms of leaking information about senior German military officials, what has been done with regard also to the United Kingdom and the United States which some Russian officials have said that they were behind the attack. There is a succession of information which we know is false, which corresponds to threatening postures,” he judged.
The president also has “no doubt” that Russia is targeting the organization of the Olympic Games, “including in informational terms”, suggesting that Paris would not be ready. Russia “feeds every day the fact that we could not do this or that, so it would be a risk,” he denounced. “This is also why we must hold on. Fortitude, self-confidence, a relationship with the truth are the strength of democracies and great nations,” he said.