“We hope that the French secret services are not behind this,” said Sergei Shoigu, Russian Minister of Defense regarding the March 22 attack in Moscow, claimed by Daesh.
A statement which should not calm relations between the Elysée and the Kremlin. Two weeks after the attack in a concert hall in Moscow, the Russian Minister of Defense spoke this Wednesday April 3, 2024 after a telephone interview with the French Minister of the Armed Forces, Sébastien Lecornu. Sergei Shoigu said he hoped that “the French secret services” were not involved in the attack claimed by the Islamic State organization.
“This will create problems for France itself”
“The regime of Kyiv does nothing without the approval of his Western supervisors. We hope that, in this case, the French secret services are not behind this” he explained in the press release from his ministry resuming the call. For its part, Paris affirmed that Sébastien Lecornu had “recalled the availability of France to “increased exchanges” with the Russia during this telephone interview with his Russian counterpart, particularly in the fight against terrorism after the attack on March 22 in Russia which caused the death of at least 144 people in a concert hall. The Kremlin then denounced Ukrainian involvement coordinated by the West, while recognizing an attack perpetrated by “radical Islamists”.
The Russian ministry once again echoed the recent controversial remarks ofEmmanuel Macron, believing that sending troops to Ukraine could not “be ruled out”. “Sergueï Shoigu indicated that if (these declarations) were made, it would create problems for France itself,” his ministry said.