MOSCOW, February 20. /TASS/. The Kremlin hopes it will not have to use the practice of disclosing of the classified part of top-level talks but is ready to do everything that would be needed to tell the truth, Russian presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov said on Sunday, commenting on the disclosure of the classified part of the talks between Russian and French Presidents, Vladimir Putin and Emmanuel Macron, by the French foreign minister.
"I hope we will never live in a world where we will have to disclose the transcripts of the classified parts of talks between presidents. But when it is necessary to prove that our president is right, we will do whatever is needed," he said in an interview with the Moscow.Kremlin.Putin program on the Rossyia-1 television channel.
In response to the host’s remark that such leaks had already been done by Paris, Peskov said, "Regrettably, yes." "Our French colleagues - and it has nothing to do with the French president - but our colleagues from the French foreign ministry have already leaked such information several times quite deliberately," he said.
Peskov earlier slammed French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian for disclosing details of the talks between the Russia and French leaders about the Russian State Duma’s (lower parliament house) appeal on the recognition of the self-proclaimed Donbass republics. However, in his, words, some nuances were twisted. Thus, the French top diplomat claimed that Putin allegedly told Macron at the Moscow talks that the appeal was an initiative of the Communist Party and the president will not take it into account.
According to Peskov, Moscow never disclosed details of Putin’s closed talks with the leaders of other countries, but in a situation following the French diplomat’s statement it has decided to make public part of the talks’ transcript to show how the French diplomat had distorted Putin’s words.
The Kremlin spokesman noted that Putin’s talks with Macron in Moscow on February 7 were held before the State Duma refereed its appeal on the recognition of the Donbass republics to the head of state. Putin, according to Peskov, did not say that this initiative could not be taken into account. "The situation was as follows: a question was asked about the bill, and the Russian president explained that it was not a bill but an initiative and there was no bill on that matter. So, you see - it is a different situation. It may look the same, but it was not so," he added.