MOSCOW, December 26. /TASS/. France has reached out to Russia multiple times through confidential channels, offering assistance in establishing dialogue on the Ukrainian issue without involving Kiev, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated in an interview with Russian and foreign media.
"Our French colleagues strive to adopt a proactive stance on various issues, which we welcome. However, I am unsure of the outcomes of such initiatives or whether this intent is genuine," Lavrov stated. "For instance, our French counterparts have approached us several times through private channels, proposing to assist and facilitate dialogue on the Ukrainian issue. Interestingly, these proposals often exclude Ukraine itself, seemingly contradicting the West's oft-repeated principle that 'nothing about Ukraine should be decided without Ukraine.'"
Meanwhile, Lavrov pointed to France's "ambiguous behavior." "We do not refuse contact, we are ready to listen, but France is the major initiator of sending so-called peacekeeping troops to Ukraine. It prepares combat units of the Ukrainian armed forces on its territory and directly states that it is necessary to continue attacking Russia and to make Ukraine prepare for negotiations from a stronger position," Russia's top diplomat said. "You see, this kind of contradictory behavior creates no desire to take what is happening at the initiative of our French colleagues seriously," he added.
Picture with no signals
Commenting at the request of a French journalist on the meeting between French President Emmanuel Macron, US President-elect Donald Trump, and Vladimir Zelensky during the opening ceremony of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, Lavrov remarked: "I didn't see any encouraging signals in the picture." He further stated, "I still have the impression that the primary focus of this meeting was the photo opportunity itself, featuring three figures - two politicians and, regrettably, one with Nazi-like, racist tendencies - posing in front of the cathedral."