Russia
Paris, June 3, 2014
(…)
Q. – At the end of the week, on Thursday, there will be the G7.
Vladimir Putin won’t be there. Is this a definitive exclusion?
THE MINISTER – Not necessarily, but it was natural for the G7 countries to make a firm point, if I can put it like that, regarding Crimea’s annexation; this is what we did and I think we were right to. It doesn’t mean there are no relations with Mr Putin. I might add that Mr Putin has been invited to the D-Day ceremonies – which is natural, historically.
Q. – He will be welcomed by François Hollande.
THE MINISTER – François Hollande will be seeing President Putin, President Obama and other presidents, such as Mr Poroshenko, Ukraine’s new president. I shall be attending these meetings and will be going to the Ukrainian President’s investiture on Saturday.
Q. – But can an agreement be reached with Vladimir Putin? Is there a solution, a way out of the crisis?
THE MINISTER – Geography is geography. There’s the European Union, there’s Ukraine and, beside it, Russia. We aren’t going to change that.
Moreover, for decades in France there’s traditionally been a certain form of agreement with Russia. So we have long-standing, historical relations with Russia. At the same time, when a country annexes part of another, it’s unacceptable at international level./.
