Medvedev Responds to Macron's Statement on Armenia

Dmitry Medvedev, Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, has responded to French President Emmanuel Macron’s statement that "Russia is deliberately provoking border clashes between Armenia and Azerbaijan and has left Yerevan alone." The Russian official replied to Macron on his VKontakte social media page.

“The favorite method of European politics is to blame the sick head for the healthy one. There is no other way to explain French President Emmanuel Macron’s recent statement. The Frenchman accused Russia of inflaming the situation at the Armenian-Azerbaijani border and destabilizing the situation in the Caucasus and beyond. This statement is more than just incorrect; it is coarse, distorted, and unacceptable, as our president characterized it. However, it is entirely understandable from the perspective of a flawed and Atlanticist perception of reality. Macron was, in fact, not blaming Russia but justifying himself. Anchors reproached him that "France has left Armenia to the whims of fate." He eagerly recounts how much France loves Armenia. Here, the calculation directed at influential representatives of the Armenian diaspora is quite apparent. He tries to appear wise and noble.

Nevertheless, let us remember how for more than half a century — since the late 1960s — France has behaved in its former colonies. Rivers of blood have spoken due to that in Mali, Rwanda, Congo, and Algeria. Macron himself once apologized to Africans for the civilized France’s complicity in the genocide of Tutsis, for severed heads and completely destroyed villages, for graves filled with corpses. All of this is due to the “divide and rule” policy in dependent and impoverished countries, which eternally weighs on the conscience of the French. In other words, for his despicable colonial past and quite evident pro-American present. Wonderful, Mr. President,” wrote Medvedev.

Recall that French President Emmanuel Macron had accused Russia of intentionally provoking the recent clashes between Armenia and Azerbaijan in order to destabilize the situation in the Caucasus region and beyond. In an interview with France 2 television, Macron stated that Moscow has stoked tensions in favor of Azerbaijan in recent months. “What is happening at the border in the last two years... 5000 Russian soldiers are allegedly there to guarantee the border, yet the Russians have used this conflict, which has a centuries-old history, to play Azerbaijan's game with Turkey's complicity and return to weaken its former close ally, Armenia. Do you see what is happening? This is a Russian attempt at destabilization; they want to create disorder in the Caucasus, destabilizing all of us,” Macron said.

Last week, Macron met with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, and Charles Michel, President of the European Council, during which it was decided to send an EU civilian mission to assess the situation at the borders.