A lover of brilliance on the international scene, Emmanuel Macron has not hesitated, for several months, to take liberties with the secrecy usually required in diplomatic affairs. Even if it means causing a few incidents.
The state agency Ria Novosti, transmission belt of the Russian president’s mood, thus discreetly alluded to the broadcast, Thursday, June 30, on France 2, ofA President, Europe and the war. For this documentary shot in the heart of the Elysée, its director, Guy Lagache, was authorized to record the entirety of a conversation between the French president and Vladimir Poutine. While the excerpts from this interview have been published for several days in many media, the Russian agency is offended on Twitter that “For a long time the French have not respected the diplomatic rules of negotiations”.
The exchange took place on February 20, four days before the war. Guy Lagache follows from the office of the head of the diplomatic cell at the Elysée, Emmanuel Bonne, an interview lasting an hour and forty-five in which Mr. Macron tries to snatch from Vladimir Putin the « principe » of a meeting in Geneva with Joe Biden.
The film retains nine tasty minutes of it, where we hear the Russian president explain that the Ukrainian government “is not democratically elected”but would be the result of a “bloodthirsty coup” during which “people were burned alive” and dont Volodymyr Zelensky “is one of the responsible”. Putin assures that he has “always a lot of fun” to speak with Emmanuel Macron, including from his gym, and makes a few promises. Behind the scenes, Mr. Bonne warns the director that Mr. Poutine “always lies”. The meeting between Russian and American presidents will indeed not take place.
A weapon between France and Russia
Was Vladimir Putin notified that he was being recorded? “You have to ask the Elysée the question”, eludes Guy Lagache, who obtained privileged access, for six months, to the activities of the diplomatic cell. According Anne-Sophie Bradelle, spokesperson for the Head of State in charge of international affairs and one of the protagonists of the documentary, the European interlocutors of Mr. Macron have been warned ” upstream “, more than six months ago, a journalist would follow the French presidency of the Council of the European Union from the inside – a film that changes its subject at the end of February to devote itself behind the scenes of the war.
For Vladimir Putin, things are less clear. “The Russian authorities were notified after viewing the film by Emmanuel Bonne and myself”assure Mme Bradelle: an agreement had indeed been made with the production company providing that the Elysée could see the images before broadcast (a passage was also cut, which, according to the diplomatic cell, would have contravened defense secrecy). A first screening was held in May, the second just after Emmanuel Macron’s trip to kyiv on June 16.
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