After the publication of caricatures on his Twitter account deemed “unacceptable” by French diplomacy, the Russian ambassador to Paris was summoned to the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Friday. The tweet, which contained two cartoons mocking Europe, has since been deleted.
The Russian ambassador to Paris was summoned to the French Foreign Ministry on Friday after the publication of cartoons on his Twitter account deemed “unacceptable” by French diplomacy. “These publications are unacceptable. We said it clearly today to the Russian ambassador”, Alexei Meshkov, declared the Quai d’Orsay, in the midst of a crisis between Russia and the West around its offensive in Ukraine.
The tweet, which appeared on Thursday, has been deleted.
One of the drawings shows Europeans on their knees licking Uncle Sam’s buttocks and bears the words in English “European solidarity as it is”. The second caricature presents an allegory of sick Europe, lying on a bed, to whom its torturers, the United States and the European Union, inject different substances entitled “neo-Nazism, “Russophobia” or “Covid-19”.
“We are trying to maintain a demanding channel of dialogue with Russia” but these “actions are perfectly inappropriate”, it was added at the Quai d’Orsay. The Russian Embassy, joined by AFP, confirmed that “the question of the tweet published had been raised, among other points” during the interview on Friday morning. This tweet, which appeared on Thursday, has since been removed. The Russian ambassador for his part “drew the attention of our French colleagues to the provocations and acts of vandalism against Russian diplomatic representations in France”, she added.