Preparations for French President Emmanuel Macron’s May visit to Russia continue, France’s Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told the RTL radio station on Thursday.
“As was announced before, the visit is planned. This is the current situation,” he said.
In reply to a question about the Skripal incident, the French top diplomat claimed that “only Russia is capable of producing the Novichok gas.” “This is why there can be no other credible explanation of the incident. And this is what France has been saying but Moscow has been giving no response. For that reason, after the EU summit was held last week, the Europeans took actions and French President Emmanuel Macron ordered the expulsion [of Russian diplomats],” Le Drian added.
“However, we would like to maintain a frank dialogue with Moscow, which would be totally free of ambiguity, and we demand that Moscow abide by international law,” the French foreign minister noted.