French President Emmanuel Macron did not mince words during his joint news conference Monday with Russian President Vladimir Putin, during which he labeled Russian state media outlets Russia Today and Sputnik “agents of influence and propaganda.” [...]
The remarks, which were made during the leaders’s first face-to-face visit, comes at a time of fraught relations between Paris and Moscow—particularly due to their differences over the six-year Syrian civil war, in which they back opposing sides. Despite these differences, however, the two leaders said they took part in a “frank, sincere dialogue” and expressed their willingness to pursue their shared priority of combatting terrorism and maintaining stability in Syria. [...]
Russia has long appeared to favor Macron’s far-right rival Marine Le Pen, who the Kremlin invited to Moscow a month before the French election’s first round. Putin denied any interference, noting “it would have been very strange on our part to refuse to have a meeting with a leading political figure in Europe who wishes to develop good relations with Russia. It doesn’t mean we tried to influence the result of the French presidential election—this is impossible.”
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