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PARIS – The victory of the France team in the semifinals of the World Cup last week allowed the French president to meet the Russian President face to face in a moment of tension between the continent and United States.
Blues – the name of the French team – won Tuesday, Vladimir V. Putin, the Russian president, called his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, to congratulate him and invite him to the last match on Sunday . This is just a day before a high-profile meeting in Finland between Putin and President Trump.
Macron seems to have recognized the possibility of using the trip not only to support the team of his country, but also to support the position of the European Union with the Russian President on several important topics for Russia. It comes after European allies and other NATO members met last week in Brussels with Mr Trump, whose provocations during the meeting – rather than the substantial policies adopted – have tended to to dominate the media coverage. Macron will discuss with Mr. Putin the politics of Ukraine, Iran and Syria, all topics that they have already discussed and on which the position of France and the European Union differs considerably from that of the United States. Macron will formally meet Putin in the Kremlin for an hour late in the afternoon shortly before the start of the final match against Croatia. It has been less than two months since Mr. Macron met with Putin alone, which Mr. Macron called a reaffirmation of France's commitment to multilateralism and independence
. Iranian and Syrian politics, Mr Putin and Mr Macron are likely to find considerable ground
France and the European Union are closer to Russia's position on the EU. Iran than that of the United States. They strongly oppose President Trump's decision to withdraw from the Iranian nuclear deal and force other countries to do so as well.
The European Union has tried to find a way around the renewal of sanctions by the United States. Russia, which has close economic and military ties with Iran, has also supported the nuclear deal.
On Ukraine, the European Union is firmly convinced to force the Russian army to leave the east of Ukraine and Crimea. In contrast, Mr. Trump – but not his administration – has repeatedly stated that he plans to recognize Crimea as part of Russia and refused to reaffirm the US position during the year. Obama administration. Opposition to the Russian intervention
On Syria, Mr Macron said – like others at the Elysee – that the two countries share many ideas. During his meeting with Putin in May, the two leaders agreed that France would play a coordinating role in the work of the Astana group, which includes Russia, Iran and Turkey, and the small group, including Germany. , the United States, Britain and Jordan. The groups focus on different aspects of the redesign of the country's political fabric and the end of its long and exceptionally bloody civil war.
The French – or the Americans – seem to have little desire to force Syrian President Bashar al-Assad despite the use of chemical weapons by soldiers against civilians.
Yet, despite a shared vision of the need for Syria to find a political solution, the Europeans, especially the French, were very upset. not forced Syria to allow humanitarian aid to reach civilians in areas of anti-Syrian government.
The Middle East has often been at the center of the wave of Russian diplomacy, some fortuitous, that has occurred on the periphery of the World Cup. leaders rode to watch matches and boycott efforts have mostly failed.
After the poisoning in Britain in March of a former Russian double agent and his daughter, nine governments said The officials would boycott the football championship organized by Russia. Of these, two came from countries whose teams were not qualified, and a third, Sweden, boycotted only the opening ceremony. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel returned Wednesday for talks with Putin and to see Croatia beat England in the semifinals after defeating Russia in the quarterfinals.
On Wednesday, an Iranian delegation with Ali Akbar Velayati, former Iranian presidential candidate and Foreign Minister, and Asghar Fathi Sarbangoli, Chairman of the Board of Governors, met with Putin at the residence of Russian President Novo-Agaryovo .
On Thursday, a Russian deputy foreign minister met with Saudi Arabia's information minister, Avad bin Salih al-Avad. Russia's Special Envoy for Middle East Affairs, Mikhail Bogdanov, met with the Syrian Ambassador to Russia
Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas met with Mr. Putin Friday. Earlier, Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi met with his Russian counterpart Sergei V. Lavrov on 4 July.
Andrew Higgins contributed reports from Moscow.
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