France accuses Russia of disinformation about French position in Ukraine war

By Umit Donmez

PARIS (AA) — France on Friday accused Russia of disinformation about its role in Ukraine and past peace efforts.

Responding to a question from Anadolu, the French Foreign Ministry's deputy spokesperson Francois Delmas said at a news conference that recent remarks on France by Moscow were "out of the subject."

He was referring to accusations of "blackmail" by Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova on Wednesday, aimed at French President Emmanuel Macron, who said that anyone helping Moscow in the Ukraine war would become an "accomplice."

Zakharova noted that as French head of state, Macron knew how much effort Russia putting into solving the Ukraine crisis by implementing the 2014 Minsk agreement, which Paris mediated.

As president of a NATO member country, Macron also knows how much the alliance did to destabilize the situation there, she added.

"If he knows all that and still says such things, then it's just a substitution of concepts, hypocrisy, and the spread of untruth," she said.

Delmas said Russia is the aggressor against Ukraine in the war, and that Kyiv was defending "its sovereignty and its territorial integrity."

He added that during the latest phone conversation with his Ukrainian counterpart, Macron reiterated France's support to Kyiv "to put an end to the Russian aggression."

* Writing by Nur Asena Erturk in Ankara