Russia responds after Vladimir Putin call with Emmanuel Macron leaked

Russian authorities are scrambling after a top secret call between Vladimir Putin and a European leader was leaked.

Russian authorities are scrambling after a top secret call between Vladimir Putin and French leader Emmanuel Macron was leaked.

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Wednesday that the publication of the call, in which the two presidents opened fire in a barrage of words, was a breach of “diplomatic etiquette”.

“Diplomatic etiquette does not provide for unilateral leaks of (such) recordings,” Lavrov said on a trip to Vietnam.

The details of the confidential call days before Moscow’s military operation in Ukraine were revealed by the broadcaster France 2 in a documentary on the French president’s handling of the conflict.

The call is said to have taken place on February 20.

The French president reportedly blew up at Putin over suggestions France should negotiate with pro-Russian separatists residing in Ukraine.

“I don’t know where your lawyers learned the law!” Macron reportedly told Putin. “It is not separatists who are going to make proposals on Ukrainian laws.”

“Of course, we have a completely different reading of the situation,” Putin replied.

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Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Wednesday that the publication of a call between President Emmanuel Macron and Russian leader Vladimir Putin was a breach of ‘diplomatic etiquette’.

‘I don’t know where your lawyers learned the law!’ Macron reportedly told Putin in the heated exchange. ‘It is not separatists who are going to make proposals on Ukrainian laws.’

“I don’t know what jurist will be able to tell you that in a sovereign country, the texts of laws are proposed by separatist groups and not by the democratically elected authorities,” Macron replied.

Putin, now enraged, shot back: “This is not a democratically elected government. They came to power in a coup, there were people burned alive, it was a bloodbath and Zelensky is one of those responsible.”

The day after the call, Russia recognised the Donetsk People’s Republic and the Luhansk People’s Republic.

Three days after that, Russia invaded Ukraine.

In the call, Macron also calls for both sides to “calm down”and suggest Putin pencil in a meeting with US President Joe Biden or at least release a press release saying they would hold talks.

But Putin extraordinarily dismissed Macron, telling him he is going to the gym.

“To be honest with you, I wanted to go play ice hockey because here I’m talking to you from the gym before starting physical exercises. I’ll call my advisors first,’ Putin says.

Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu at the Kremlin in Moscow on July 4, 2022.

Lavrov said Russia had nothing to be ashamed of from the content of the conversation between the two leaders.

“We in principle lead negotiations in such a way that we never have anything to be ashamed of. We always say what we think and are ready to answer for these words and explain our position,” he said.

Lavrov is on a two-day visit to Vietnam, on the tenth anniversary of the two nations’ “comprehensive strategic partnership”.

Vietnam, historically close to Moscow, has so far declined to outright condemn Russia’s military intervention in Ukraine.

— with AFP