Macron shows his muscles again against Moscow and attacks Russian officials

Relations between Russia and France are tense. Friday March 22, Emmanuel Macron castigated the “indignity” of comments made by a Russian official towards France.

On Instagram, Soazig de la Moissonière, Emmanuel Macron's official photographer, published photos of Emmanuel Macron boxing on Tuesday March 19. Photos which provoked various reactions in view of the current international context. The President of the Republic seems to show his muscles after comments concerning the war in Ukraine. On February 26, at the end of an international conference on Ukraine which brought together European heads of state and government, Emmanuel Macron, questioned about the possible sending of Western troops to Ukraine, affirmed "dynamically, nothing should be excluded.” Accused of favoring escalation with Russia, the president defended himself by highlighting a “strategic ambiguity”. According to comments from the Élysée, reported by Le Monde, Emmanuel Macron believes that Vladimir Putin only understands the balance of power.

Since these remarks, Russia has been particularly aggressive towards France. Thursday March 21, during his weekly press briefing, Christophe Lemoine, one of the spokespersons for French diplomacy, said: "Russian institutions are lying in an increasingly uninhibited manner, as evidenced by the declarations this Tuesday. , from the director of Russian foreign intelligence on the sending of French soldiers to Ukraine", indicates Le Monde. The tone is rising between the two countries, the official RIA Novosti agency took up, in a dispatch, the mockery posted by Internet users after the publication of photos showing Emmanuel Macron boxing. Cyberattacks and disinformation maneuvers from Russia are increasing, while the French military has noted an increase in Russian aggressiveness during interactions they may have with them. “We are faced with a form of increasing aggression, but it still remains below the threshold of conflict,” a French officer told Le Monde. “The Russians never go too far and avoid any action that could lead to armed conflict,” he adds.

However, after Emmanuel Macron's remarks, Vladimir Putin once again brandished the nuclear threat, ensuring that his country was "ready" for a nuclear war. Threats supported by the vice-president of the Duma, Pyotr Tolstoy, who, during an interview for BFM TV, raised the possibility of sending a nuclear bomb to Paris. Asked about these virulent comments on Friday March 22, Emmanuel Macron replied: “I think their indignity is enough not to comment on them.” He also confided his “astonishment at such nervousness and such a lack of nerves among Russian officials,” reports BFM TV.