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Putin visits France for talks; Macron does not give an inch, calls out Russian media

T

Tovarisc

Member
Edit: Thanks mods <3
French President Emmanuel Macron hosted Russia's Vladimir Putin at the sumptuous royal palace in Versailles on Monday to talk about cooperating on fighting terror. The visit demonstrated Macron's prowess in global politics, as he secured that goal but pulled no punches in a blistering attack on Russian state media outlets.

The Russian president, hoping to mend ties with the West that have grown increasingly strained in recent months, refrained from picking up the fight over the Russian RT television and Sputnik news agency. Putin emphasized the need for Russia and France to develop closer cooperation and strongly rejected accusations of meddling in the recent French presidential vote.
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Macron said he spoke to Putin about LGBT rights in Chechnya, and about the rights of embattled NGOs in Russia and vowed that he would be ”constantly vigilant" on these issues.

Speaking with remarkable frankness, Macron also tore into two Russian media outlets &#8212; Sputnik and Russia Today &#8212; that he said had spread ”serious untruths" during the French presidential campaign that he won on May 7.

”When press outlets spread defamatory untruths they are no longer journalists, they are organs of influence. Russia Today and Sputnik were organs of influence during this campaign which, on several occasions, produced untruths about me and my campaign," Macron said.

”I will not give an inch on this," he said. ”Russia Today and Sputnik ... behaved as organs of influence, of propaganda, of lying propaganda."
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He said any use of chemical weapons in Syria &#8212; where Russia is propping up the government of President Bashar Assad &#8212; is a ”red line" for France and would be met by ”reprisals" and an ”immediate riposte" from France. He did not specify what form such reprisals could take, but France flies warplanes over Syria and Iraq, striking ISIS targets as part of an international coalition.

Macron portrayed the meeting &#8212; their first since Macron took power &#8212; as just a first step in resetting the country's relations with Russia.

”Big things are built over time," he said. ”It was an exchange that was extremely frank, direct, with a lot of things that were said."

”We have disagreements, but at least we talked about them," he added.

The leaders' first handshakes &#8212; relatively brief and cordial &#8212; after Putin climbed out of his limousine at Versailles were far less macho than Macron's now famous who-will-blink-first handshake showdown with President Donald Trump when the two leaders met for the first time last week.
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Putin said he and Macron agreed to discuss pursuing closer cooperation on anti-terror efforts, with a proposed exchange of experts to work toward that goal.

On Syria, Putin underlined the importance of securing the Syrian state, adding that it's essential for combatting terrorism.

Macron is the first Western leader to speak to Putin after the Group of Seven summit over the weekend, where relations with Russia were a key topic.

Macron's invitation for Putin was a surprise after his tough stance on Russia during the French election. Macron's aides also claimed that Russian groups launched hacking attacks on his presidential campaign.

Moscow strongly denied all allegations of election meddling, and Putin on Monday again poo-pooed the idea as unfounded press speculation.
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Source: https://apnews.com/64e171a8ff7b4413...rance-for-talks;-Macron-does-not-give-an-inch

Edit: Moment when Macron goes to town on Russian media, look at Putin: https://twitter.com/B3infos/status/869225360168067072
 
R

Robiin

Member
I have no idea how he is seen otherwise, but it's good to see one leader with balls and willingness to criticise.
 
M

madstarr12

Member
Indeed. We would have had a woman President who would also stand up to him, but the American people in the Industrial Mid-west bought a bunch of lies and made fools of themselves.
 
L

Lord Frieza

Member
Putin looks pretty miserable through most of this lol. Guess he's bitter&#8203; that France didn't respond to Russian influence like the US. Macron certainly talks the talk, hope he walks the walk.
 
M

Morrigan Stark

Arrogant Smirk
tuxfool said:
https://twitter.com/B3infos/status/869225360168067072

Here is that exchange where he accused the Russian news outlets to be propaganda arms.
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Okay, MAD respect for Macron here. He called it out like it is, flat-out called it LIES (which American media is so reluctant to ever do), directly to Putin's face. And says he won't budge an inch on that. No wishy-washy bullshit, no euphemisms, just called it straight up "lying propaganda".

Good for him.
 
J

jelly

Member
I guess gas isn't a problem for France. Perhaps Nuclear covers it.

When does Trump start hating on France in tweets........
 
J

jstripes

Banned
Morrigan Stark said:
Okay, MAD respect for Macron here. He called it out like it is, flat-out called it LIES (which American media is so reluctant to ever do), directly to Putin's face. And says he won't budge an inch on that. No wishy-washy bullshit, no euphemisms, just called it straight up "lying propaganda".

Good for him.
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It's about time a major world leader started laying the truth out bare.
 
M

MIMIC

Banned
Extremely commendable to be very frank and forthright in public about Russia. Seems like there's going to be a fight to see who can hold tougher stances on Russia. And to the victor goes the spoils (greater global influence).

(unrelated, but "poo-pooed" is a word journalists use? lol)
 
T

TheOctodad

Member
Maybe. Just maybe. This whole Russia/Trump fiasco will help politicians and people realize they need to stop being so pathetic when it comes to leading in the future. Good on Macron. More of this.
 
W

Widdle Puppy

Banned
I don't get how Russia is being made out to be this huge threat to the west. They have a tiny economy, Syria is their only ally and they lead no coalitions. The government there is just a sneaky rat and they have nukes from the Soviet eta so it's easy to make them appear more powerful than they are.

Division in the west are real but it is because of us, not them.
 
N

Nivash

Member
Very satisfied with this and precisely the reason I preferred Macron over the likes of not just Le Pen, but Melenchon too. Russia is a hostile power to Europe and we can't afford to pretend otherwise. Between him and Merkel, it's good to see that Europe still has some competent leaders.
 
L

Lord Frieza

Member
Widdle Puppy said:
I don't get how Russia is being made out to be this huge threat to the west. They have a tiny economy, Syria is their only ally and they lead no coalitions. The government there is just a sneaky rat and they have nukes from the Soviet eta so it's easy to make them appear more powerful than they are.

Division in the west are real but it is because of us, not them.
Click to expand...

Russia may be a dying country economically&#8203;, but they have a large army still, and the disinformation machine they run is straight-out next level and has lead, either directly or in contribution, to major political strife that has weakened the western world in multiple ways
 
C

cameron

Member
Dude is awesome.
Macron said he spoke to Putin about LGBT rights in Chechnya, and about the rights of embattled NGOs in Russia and vowed that he would be “constantly vigilant” on these issues.
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This, along with other issues that were discussed, are proud moments for France.
 
M

Muffin1611

Banned
Widdle Puppy said:
I don't get how Russia is being made out to be this huge threat to the west. They have a tiny economy, Syria is their only ally and they lead no coalitions. The government there is just a sneaky rat and they have nukes from the Soviet eta so it's easy to make them appear more powerful than they are.

Division in the west are real but it is because of us, not them.
Click to expand...

Since it's not like Russia is funding anti-EU parties, leading fake news campaigns against pro-EU candidates and indirectly meddles with elections or anything, right?
 
T

Tovarisc

Member
Widdle Puppy said:
I don't get how Russia is being made out to be this huge threat to the west. They have a tiny economy, Syria is their only ally and they lead no coalitions. The government there is just a sneaky rat and they have nukes from the Soviet eta so it's easy to make them appear more powerful than they are.

Division in the west are real but it is because of us, not them.
Click to expand...

Propaganda and intelligence ops (human, signal, hacking) are what Russia are throwing at West and it's threat to stability of West and democratic processes. Just look at latest US election or UK BREXIT, Russia played part in both. They also tried their hand in France, but for our good they failed there and Le Pen lost hard.

They may not be huge threat from perspective of amount of allies and state of their military, but they try create divides and abuse new and old divides between Western allies. Trump's brain dead actions in NATO and G7 meetings didn't help.
 
N

Nivash

Member
Widdle Puppy said:
I don't get how Russia is being made out to be this huge threat to the west. They have a tiny economy, Syria is their only ally and they lead no coalitions. The government there is just a sneaky rat and they have nukes from the Soviet eta so it's easy to make them appear more powerful than they are.

Division in the west are real but it is because of us, not them.
Click to expand...

Russia's military is largely equal to the entirety of the EU on a conventional level, except it's much more capable of operating in Eastern European EU member's territory than the EU is as a whole, ironically enough. If Russia ever decided to intervene in Eastern Europe the way it has in Ukraine, the EU would be utterly powerless to stop them without massive US support. The end of the EU and NATO would follow swiftly, and every nation eastward of Germany would have to realign themselves to Russia being the dominant power in the region. And that''s not even mentioning how large a role Russia is playing in fostering anti-European political powers within Europe itself.

Russia is the greatest strategic threat that Europe has on a short-term scale. Even on a longer time scale, the only greater threat would be climate change.
 
Damerman

Damerman

Member
My mans is on a winning streak. I think i'm gonna move to france for real. fuck my american citizenship.

TheBryanJZX90 said:
Trump's election has really given other countries a chance to eclipse America and take the lead on global issues.
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the main take away. europe is become the cool clique.
 
D

Dan

No longer boycotting the Wolfenstein franchise
Widdle Puppy said:
I don't get how Russia is being made out to be this huge threat to the west. They have a tiny economy, Syria is their only ally and they lead no coalitions. The government there is just a sneaky rat and they have nukes from the Soviet eta so it's easy to make them appear more powerful than they are.

Division in the west are real but it is because of us, not them.
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Russia actively fosters those divisions. Yes, there are obviously people in the west susceptible to those attempts, but it's a problem nonetheless when Russia provides financial and logistical support for fomenting anti-democratic movements in other nations.

Also, you may have missed Russia's penchant for invading territory and expanding its physical borders and influence.
 
Damerman

Damerman

Member
-Plasma Reus- said:
Youngest French leader since Napoleon, dealing with Russians.
Time is a flat circle.
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TKTNGOm.gif
 
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