BLOG POST IN THE FACE OF WAR - Relations with Russia: France’s

23/03/2023 Nicole Gnesotto Vice President of the Jacques Delors Institute BLOG POST IN THE FACE OF WAR Relations with Russia: France’s unique position © Photo by bruno neurath-wilson on Unsplash In its response to the war in Ukraine, France maintains the unique position that it has always adopted in European affairs. [...] The second criticism levelled at France concerns its view of Russia as a major power and its obsession with the channel of dialogue between Paris and Moscow. [...] In the weeks leading up to the invasion and for a long time afterwards, Macron made many phone calls to Putin, sometimes in a very ostentatious way, with a view to leaving the door open for dialogue and negotiation. [...] The French President got the message and from last September adopted the language common to Western nations. [...] Is this one mistake too many? Is this what makes France’s unique position an impair- ment rather than an asset? The answer to this question is no, particularly if the following questions are key for the future: 1) Is it a mistake to distinguish, as France does, between Putin, a war criminal, and Russia, a European power for all time? 2) Is it foolish to remember that we cannot destroy a nuclear po.