The head of Russian diplomacy was offended Wednesday by the publication by the France 2 television channel of an interview between the French and Russian presidents, four days before Moscow launched its assault on Ukraine. “Diplomatic etiquette does not provide for unilateral leaks of (such) recordings,” Minister Sergei Lavrov noted during a trip to Vietnam.
The very tense nine-minute telephone conversation between Emmanuel Macron and Vladimir Putin was broadcast last Thursday in a documentary by the French channel France 2 which traces the French president’s mediation in an attempt to prevent the conflict in Ukraine from escalating, with Moscow being then accused of preparing an offensive despite his repeated denials.
“We always say what we mean”
The chosen moments of this exchange, between the French president and the Russian president, are delicious. The interview is recorded from the office of the diplomatic adviser to the Élysée, Emmanuel Bonne, who listens to it remotely from his office. “I would like you to first give me your reading of the situation and perhaps quite directly, as we both do, tell me what your intentions are,” Macron begins. “What could I say? You see for yourself what is happening,” Putin replies.
Mr. Lavrov judged that Russia did not have to be ashamed of the content of the conversation between the two leaders. “We always conduct negotiations in such a way that we never have to be ashamed. We always say what we think, we are ready to answer for our words and explain our position,” he said.