Member of the German Bundestag: Putin Wants to Divide Germany and France, Shifting the Focus to a More Loyal Paris

Russian President Vladimir Putin wants to divide Germany and France, shifting the focus to a more loyal Paris, Omid Nouripour, Member of the German Bundestag, Spokesperson on foreign affairs of the Alliance 90/The Greens said during the KSF discussion on June 26.

"Obviously, Putin is trying to divide us. In this particular case, he is trying to divide France and Germany. Because France is the only EU member state he mentions in his article (Putin's article in National Interest magazine, dedicated to the 75th anniversary of the victory over Nazism, ed.)," Nouripour said.

He noted that the European Union plays an important role when it comes to deterring Russian aggression in Europe and providing assistance to Ukraine.

"Of course, the EU could do more, but it is clear that Mr Putin is trying to shift the focus towards Paris. And, frankly, one of the reasons for this is that the President of France has made several statements that could be misinterpreted to Russia," German politician said.

He reminded that French President Macron spoke about friendship with Russia and that terrorism is now a bigger problem than Russia.

"But then there was a meeting in the Normandy format, and there was no split between Germany and France. So all is well. But it is clear that Putin will continue to do so," Omid Nouripour said.

Kyiv Security Forum is Ukraine’s foremost platform for high-level international discussion about peace and security. Kyiv Security Forum was founded by the Arseniy Yatsenyuk Open Ukraine Foundation in 2007.