French President Emmanuel Macron met in Versailles today with Vladimir Putin, the President of Russia. The two Presidents spoke to the press about the topics they covered during their two-hour long meeting:
Macron’s tweet says: “Any use of chemical weapons will be the object of immediate reprisals in response from the French.” Macron also called for Russia to cooperate so that humanitarian aid could be brought into the country.
Putin, trying to sound sanctimonious, said that Russia is in Syria to eliminate terrorism, a goal shared with France and many other counties.
Macron’s tweet says, “We discussed the case of LGBT people in Chechnya. I pointed very specifically to President Putin out the expectations that France has,” namely for Russia to remedy the human rights abuses that are occurring.
Putin said that Russia would address any such problem, if it exists.
The reporters who asked questions were mainly focused on one issue, Russia's interference in the French election. Putin spoke first.
“This trip is a milestone in our relationship. We are quite capable of trying to move forward together on the so-called Russian interference in the election. The issue has not been raised. The French president didn't show any interest in it and as for me, even less.”
Macron spoke up:
“We talked about the French election when President Putin called to congratulate me. I am a pragmatic. What I said only needed to be said once. It didn't need to be repeated.”
A Russian journalist complained about the difficulty she had getting access to Macron's campaign headquarters to cover events held there during the election.
Macron was ready with the kind of sharp reply that the French know how to deliver when they’re displeased:
“I have always had an exemplary relationship with foreign journalists, but they do have to be real journalists. Russia Today and Sputnik are propaganda outlets that spread slanderous untruths about me so they were excluded from campaign headquarters. I make no apology about that.”