Russian authorities slammed French President Emmanuel Macron’s remarks that Moscow was becoming submissive to China, saying Western countries must adjust to a reality based on the Kremlin’s tight relations with Beijing.
The Russian criticism centered on an interview Macron gave to the Paris newspaper l’Opinion in which he lamented the Kremlin’s isolation as a result of its 14-month invasion of Ukraine.
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“(Putin) has de facto started a form of vasallisation with China and has lost access to the Baltic that was critical to it as it has precipitated the decision by Sweden and Finland to join Nato,” Macron was reported as saying in the daily.
“This was unthinkable even two years ago.”
The debate appeared to center on discussions in March in Moscow between Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping, during which they stated that they were extending their strategic alliance by entering “a new era” of relations.
Dmitry Peskov, a Kremlin spokesperson, stated that their relations with China were those of a strategic partner and had nothing to do with dependence.
According to Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko, Paris has grown worried with Moscow’s enhanced relations with China and the implications for global order.
“The West appears to be fearful of the formation before our eyes of a truly multilateral system of international relations, one that includes several separate independent centers, particularly Moscow and Beijing,” Grushko said in a statement posted on the ministry’s website.
“Within this changing global landscape, E. Macron, like other Western leaders, will have to reconcile themselves to the reality of strong, equitable, and mutually respectful relations between Moscow and Beijing.”
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