French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu had a telephone conversation with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu. About it reports Le Monde with reference to a statement from the French department.
In a conversation with Shoigu, Lecornu “strongly condemned” the terrorist attack at Crocus City Hall and expressed France’s solidarity with the victims and their families.
He also noted that France does not have any information to establish a connection between this terrorist attack and Ukraine. The minister called on the Russian authorities to stop exploiting the Crocus tragedy.
The French minister also “unequivocally condemned the war of aggression that Russia unleashed in Ukraine” and recalled that France will continue to support Ukraine “as long and as intensively as necessary in its struggle for freedom and sovereignty”, as well as in order to bring peace and security on the European continent.
Le Monde notes that this is the first conversation between the Russian and French defense ministers since October 2022.
The Russian Ministry of Defense did not report the conversation between the ministers.
The terrorist attack at Crocus City Hall occurred on the evening of March 22. According to the latest data, 144 people were killed and more than 500 people were injured.
An Islamic State cell in Afghanistan called Vilayat Khorasan almost immediately claimed responsibility for the attack. However, the Russian authorities saw a “Ukrainian trace” in the terrorist attack. Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed that after the attack, the terrorists were traveling towards Ukraine, where a “window” had been prepared for them on the Ukrainian side to cross the border. Ukraine denies any involvement in the terrorist attack.
2024-04-03 17:02:00
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