SHARE
COPY LINK

FRANCE - UK

France’s Macron blasts ‘unacceptable attack’ on ex-spy in UK

French President Emmanuel Macron has blasted the "unacceptable" nerve agent attack on a former Russian spy in Britain and expressed his "full solidarity" with the British government.

France's Macron blasts 'unacceptable attack' on ex-spy in UK
AFP

French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday blasted the “unacceptable” nerve agent attack on a former Russian spy in Britain and expressed his “full solidarity” with the British government.

“The president condemned the unacceptable attack and reaffirmed France's commitment to fighting impunity when it comes to chemical weapons use,” Macron's office said in a statement.

Macron spoke to British Prime Minister Theresa May by telephone on Monday evening and she informed him of the results of the investigation and the
answers she was expecting from Moscow, the statement added.

Macron “assured May of France's full solidarity with the United Kingdom,” it said, adding that the pair agreed to “stay in close contact” over the issue in the coming days.

The French statement refrained from pointing the figure at the Kremlin for the March 4 poisoning of Sergei Skripal.

British police have said the case is being as an attempted murder.

May and US President Donald Trump said it appeared to have been carried out by Moscow, an accusation furiously denied by Russian officials.

The French foreign ministry had condemned the attack earlier Tuesday as a growing number of Western governments expressed support for Britain over the
affair.

“We have full confidence that the British investigation will rapidly establish who was responsible,” foreign ministry spokeswoman Agnes von der Muehll said.

The diplomatic incident could pose a dilemma for Macron who has argued for keeping an open dialogue with Russian leader Vladimir Putin, despite verbal
clashes over the war in Syria.

Macron is due to travel to Russia for the first time as president in late May for an economic forum in St. Petersburg and possibly also a visit to
Moscow.

The French foreign ministry declined to comment on whether he was considering postponing or cancelling the trip.

EMMANUEL MACRON

Macron to make live TV broadcast to France

French president Emmanuel Macron will make a live TV broadcast to the nation about the war in Ukraine.

Macron to make live TV broadcast to France

Macron will be on TV on Wednesday at 8pm, the Elysée confirmed earlier on Wednesday.

Macron also tweeted the announcement, saying that his speech will be on the subject of the war in Ukraine.

His office added that the president’s speech “will not touch on other matters” – Macron has only until Friday to confirm whether or not he is running for re-election.

It is widely considered to be extremely unlikely that he would not stand in the April elections, but all candidates have until Friday, March 4th, to make their declaration.

Macron’s team had previously announced a rally in Marseille on Saturday, March 5th, which was expected to be the first official campaign event, but on Tuesday this was cancelled because of the ongoing international crisis.

Macron was at the forefront of international efforts to find a diplomatic resolution to the crisis, and since Russia invaded Ukraine he has remained in close contact with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, and has also spoken – at the request of Zelensky – to Russian premier Vladimir Putin.

 
The Local will be following Macron’s speech live from 8pm HERE.
SHOW COMMENTS