March 13, 2024 (EIRNS)—Russian President Vladimir Putin, as part of his extensive interview today given to Rossiya Segodnya Director General Dmitry Kiselev, for the Rossiya 1 broadcaster and RIA Novosti, addressed the statements by French President Emmanuel Macron that Russia was inciting African countries against France. Asked about them, he responded: “But we have nothing to do with it, we are not inciting anyone there, we are not setting anyone up against France. We do not have such tasks. To be honest, we do not have such state, national tasks there at the level of the Russian state. We are just friends with them—that’s all. They want to develop relations with us. Well, for God’s sake, we are willing to do that. There’s nothing to be offended about.”
He continued: “We have not touched these former French colonists in those African countries. Without a touch of irony, many countries, for which France historically was a mother country, are very reluctant to deal with it. It is none of our fault. It might be more convenient to France to pin the blame on somebody else than to acknowledge its own faults. The French President’s sharp and emotional reaction might be explained, among other things, by the developments in some African states.”
We have not squeezed anybody out of Africa. Rather, the leaders of some African countries had dealings with some Russian economic players and wanted to work with them, rather than with the French ones, in some areas. This was not our, but our African friends’ initiative.
