PARIS: French President Emmanuel Macron is still due to visit Russia in May as it remained important to maintain “frank” talks with Moscow despite accusations of Russian involvement in a chemical weapon poisoning on UK territory, said French defense minister Jean-Yves Le Drian.
“We must have a frank dialogue with Russia,” Le Drian told RTL radio on Thursday.
Macron is due to attend the Saint Petersbourg economic forum in May, even though diplomatic links between Russia and the West have hit a low in the wake of a chemicals weapon attack in March on former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal.
Russian former spy Skripal and his daughter were poisoned with a nerve toxin that had been left on the front door of their home in England, British counter-terrorism police said on Wednesday.
After the first known offensive use of a chemical weapon on European soil since World War Two, Britain blamed Russian President Vladimir Putin for the attempted assassination and the West has expelled around 130 Russian diplomats.
Russia has denied any involvement in the attack and has said it suspects the British secret services of using the Novichok nerve agent, which was developed by the Soviet military, to frame Russia and stoke anti-Russian hysteria.
France’s Macron still due to visit Russia in May -Le Drian
France’s Macron still due to visit Russia in May -Le Drian
Japan’s Takaichi hosts first summit with Central Asia leaders
- The Central Asian leaders also held separate summits with Russia’s Vladimir Putin, China’s Xi Jinping and EU chief Ursula von der Leyen this year
TOKYO: Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi hosted an inaugural summit on Friday with five Central Asia leaders, as Tokyo competes for influence in the resource-rich region.
Takaichi is meeting with counterparts from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan during a two-day conference in Tokyo, a month after US President Donald Trump hosted all five in Washington.
The Central Asian leaders also held separate summits with Russia’s Vladimir Putin, China’s Xi Jinping and EU chief Ursula von der Leyen this year.
Like the United States and the European Union, Japan is drawn by the region’s enormous — but still mostly unexploited — natural resources in a push to diversify rare earths supplies and reduce dependence on Beijing.
With Tokyo trailing its rivals, the summit is important for Japan to increase its presence, said Tomohiko Uyama, a professor at Hokkaido University specializing in Central Asian politics.
“Natural resources have become a strong focus particularly in the past year because of China’s moves involving rare earths,” Uyama told AFP, referencing tight export controls introduced this year by Beijing.
During the summit, Takaichi and the five leaders are expected to establish an “AI partnership” framework, aiming to use technology to explore mineral deposits in undeveloped mines, the Nikkei Asia business daily said.
