MOSCOW, March 27. /TASS/. The Russian Foreign Ministry has not yet received any concrete proposals on counter-terrorism cooperation from France, the department’s spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said, commenting on French President Emmanuel Macron’s initiative to strengthen cooperation in the fight against terrorism.
"As for Macron’s recent statements, the Russian Foreign Ministry has not yet received any concrete suggestions and proposals from the French side, including within the framework of the abovementioned format of bilateral cooperation in the fight against international terrorism," she said.
According to the spokeswoman, the situation was the same when Macron spoke about "certain peace talks initiatives." "When he was asked at a press conference, Russian president [Vladimir Putin] said that he knew nothing about it, not even enough to make a primary conclusion in this regard," the diplomat recalled.
At the same time, Zakharova pointed out that France has been justifying Ukrainian terror against the peaceful population of Donbass since 2014 and has never called on the Kiev regime to stop it. "France is currently stepping up arms deliveries, which the terrorist Kiev regime uses to kill Russian citizens," she added. "That's why it's high time for Macron to reject his hypocrisy and start calling a spade a spade, and then we will understand exactly what he means," the spokeswoman emphasized.
On the evening of March 22, a terrorist attack targeted the Crocus City Hall music venue in Krasnogorsk, Moscow Region, just over the Moscow city limits. The current death toll is 140, with nearly 360 injured, 205 of whom received outpatient treatment. Eleven individuals suspected of being involved in the terrorist attack have been apprehended, including four gunmen, who were detained in the Bryansk Region, southwest of Moscow, as they attempted to seek refuge by crossing the nearby Ukrainian border. President Vladimir Putin said in a televised address that, according to preliminary information, the Ukrainian side had prepared "a window" in the border especially for the terrorists to cross undetected. He promised to identify and punish all those who were behind the attack on Crocus City Hall.