Pierre Levi also said that there are no exact dates for the visit of French President Emmanuel Macron to Russia, but that the plans for the visit remain in place.
The situation around Alexei Navalny does not worsen security relations between France and Russia. This was announced on Wednesday by Ambassador Pierre Levy to Russia at a press conference in Ekaterinburg.
“Not only Europe, but also other countries are waiting for clarification. But this does not worsen relations with Russia and does not harm the aspirations that we have for economic development and security cooperation with Russia”, – he said.
According to the diplomat, the situation around Navalny is an international problem, not bilateral relations.
“This is not a Russian-French problem, as well as it is not a Russian-German problem, it is an international level problem. <…> Yes, I will say that this question is primarily addressed to Russia – what happened here? And in this context, within this framework, it is absolutely necessary to clarify and investigate all this”, – said the Ambassador.
The Ambassador of the Republic also said that there are no exact dates for the visit of French President Emmanuel Macron to Russia, but that the plans for the visit remain in place.
“President Makron was planning to attend the Victory Anniversary Parade on 9 May. But the visit did not take place because of the coronavirus. Although the plans still exist”, – he said, without specifying any specific dates for the visit.
Pierre Levy believes that the republic’s legal services should respond to a request from the Russian General Prosecutor’s Office for legal assistance on the situation with Alexei Navalny.
“The French legal services must respond to an appeal from the Russian side, which asks for all known information”, – said Levy, answering the relevant question.
On 18 September, the General Prosecutor’s Office of the Russian Federation reported that the competent authorities of France and Sweden had received requests for legal assistance in the incident with Alexei Navalny. The Department noted that “information has been requested on conducting toxicological studies of Navalny biomaterials in France and Sweden, as well as on interviewing foreign experts”. On 22 September, the French Foreign Ministry confirmed receipt of the request.