Franco-Russian Relations in Crisis

• 11.01.2016, 16:28
•  Europe

Last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin cancelled his planned trip to Paris after President Francois Hollande questioned the usefulness of a meeting with the Russian leader, citing the situation in Aleppo.

Hollande's demarche consisted of refusing to attend the opening of a church and Russian cultural center in the French capital, which President Putin was set to attend.

French diplomatic sources said the Kremlin pulled out after Hollande refused to discuss anything at a planned bilateral meeting other than the Syrian crisis.

"There were contacts between the Kremlin and the Elysee this morning to offer to Putin a working visit on Syria, but excluding all other events that President Hollande could have taken part in," a source told Reuters.

"I asked myself the question... Is it useful? Is it necessary? Can it be a way of exerting pressure? Can we get him to stop what he is doing with the Syrian regime?" Mr Hollande said in a television interview.

In the recent weeks, France unexpectedly stepped up to become a central critic of Moscow over Syria, citing the renewal of hostilities between the Syrian military and Western-sponsored militants, Sputnik News reports.

Russia vetoed the French resolution on Saturday, putting forward its own alternative resolution. It marked the fifth time Russia has used its veto to block UN action to end the war in Syria.

"Dialogue is necessary with Russia but it must be firm and frank," Mr Hollande said in Strasbourg.

"From the very start of his exchanges with his French colleague, President Putin noted that he is ready to visit Paris when it is comfortable for President Hollande. So we'll wait for when that comfortable time comes," Putin's spokesman, in turn had said, according Telegraph.

According to analysts, Putin thinks France has become just a puppet in Washington's hands. Paris was forced to choose between Moscow and Washington, and it chose the latter.

The diplomatic confrontation over the Syrian crisis has plunged relations between Moscow and Western governments to their lowest point since the end of the Cold War.

Russia’s deepening role in the Syrian conflict continues to damage its relations with the West, as the brutal Moscow-backed Syrian offensive on Aleppo shows no signs of abating.