PARIS, April 3. /TASS/. French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu has spoken by phone with Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu, the French Defense Ministry said in a statement.
"During the conversation, Lecornu strongly condemned the terrorist attack that took place in the Moscow Region on March 22, and also expressed solidarity with the families of the victims," the statement said. "Lecornu stated France's readiness to cooperate in the fight against terrorism and called for expanding bilateral exchanges to maximize the effectiveness of countering this threat."
The statement said that France has no information that would establish a link between the terrorist attack and Ukraine. Lecornu called on Russia to "renounce any instrumentalization of this terrorist attack." He also said France will continue to support Kiev "for as long and as much as it takes."
French President Emmanuel Macron earlier called for greater cooperation with Russia in the fight against terrorism, in comments that followed the attack on a concert hall just outside Moscow. However, on March 27, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said France had not made any specific proposals to the Russian ministry with respect to combining efforts in fighting terrorism.
On March 22, terrorists attacked the Crocus City Hall concert venue just outside the Moscow city limits. According to the latest data, 144 people were killed and 551 suffered injuries. Ten people have been arrested in the case, including four perpetrators. The Russian Investigative Committee said it had found evidence that the attackers were linked to Ukrainian nationalists.