World News After talks, France’s Macron hits out at Russian media, Putin denies hacking
‘Atlanticist’ Merkel rams home frustration with Trump after summits
VERSAILLES, France (Reuters) - French President Emmanuel Macron rolled out the red carpet for Russia’s Vladimir Putin yesterday, but past suspicions of Russian meddling in the French election resurfaced with Macron denouncing Russian media and Putin denying hacking allegations.
The newly elected Macron hosted Putin at the sumptuous 17th century palace of Versailles outside Paris for his first meeting with the Kremlin leader which he had earlier said would be marked by some straight talking.
The 39-year-old French leader and Putin exchanged a cordial, businesslike handshake and smiles when the latter stepped from his limousine, with Macron appearing to say “welcome” to him in French.
When they emerged from talks, which went on for almost an hour longer than scheduled, Macron said they had had a “frank exchange” and both men stressed they had agreed on the need to move forward on divisive issues such as Syria and Ukraine.
But at a joint news conference after their talks, ill-feeling came to the surface over past allegations made by Macron’s camp that state-funded Russian news outlets had sought to destabilise his campaign.
With Putin alongside him, Macron repeated the accusation in a reply to a journalist’s question, saying: “During the campaign, Russia Today and Sputnik were agents of influence which on several occasions spread fake news about me personally and my campaign.
“They behaved like organs of influence, of propaganda and of lying propaganda,” he said.
During the campaign, which climaxed with Macron’s election on May 7, Macron’s camp irritated the Kremlin by saying its campaign’s networks, databases and sites had come under attack from locations inside Russia.
When his camp barred journalists from the two Russian outlets from Macron’s headquarters, a Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman denounced the move as “outrageous ... bare-faced discrimination”.
The Kremlin and RT itself have rejected allegations of meddling in the election. Putin did not react to Macron’s comments about the Russian media, but he bristled when a journalist suggested that Moscow’s hand was behind cyberattacks on the Macron campaign. These hacking allegations, he said, were not based on facts. BERLIN (Reuters) German Chancellor Angela Merkel underlined her doubts about the reliability of the United States as an ally yesterday but said she was a “convinced trans-Atlanticist”, fine-tuning her message after surprising Washington with her frankness a day earlier.
In a speech in Berlin, Merkel showed how seriously she is concerned about Washington’s dependability under President Donald Trump by repeating the message she delivered a day earlier that the days when Europe could completely count on others were “over to a certain extent”.
She made those comments, which sent shock waves through Washington, after Trump criticised major NATO allies over their military spending and refused to endorse a global climate change accord at back-toback summits last week.
“Recent days have shown me that the times when we could rely completely on others are over to a certain extent,” Merkel said.
While she made clear Berlin and Washington would “of course” remain close partners, Merkel stuck to her language from Sunday.
“We also know that we Europeans must really take our fate into our own hands,” she added, underlining Europe’s frustration with Trump on climate policy in particular.
The American tycoonturned-president backed a pledge to fight protectionism at the end of a summit of the G7 group of wealthy nations on Saturday. But he refused to endorse the climate pact, saying he needed more time to decide.
Merkel added that ties with the United States were of “paramount importance”, but she otherwise stuck to the thrust of her Sunday message, when she spoke in a packed Munich beer tent.
“It became clear at the G7, when there was no agreement with the USA, how long and rocky this path would be,” Merkel said at a conference on sustainable development. “I think it was good not to gloss over the differences.”
Merkel indirectly warned Trump he risked isolating the United States: “Anyone who today puts on national blinkers and no longer has eyes for the world around him is, I am convinced, ultimately out on a limb.”
Her spokesman, Steffen Seibert, told reporters Merkel felt it was right to flag differences in Germany’s ties with the United States in order to maintain healthy relations.
“Because trans-Atlantic relations are so important to this chancellor, it is right from her viewpoint to speak out honestly about differences,” he said, stressing that the transAtlantic ties “are a firm pillar of our foreign and security policy”
Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere stressed Germany’s “excellent” security ties with the United States.
Nonetheless, Merkel’s plans to meet Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang this week reflect Berlin’s willingness to work with other countries if Washington proves problematic on climate and trade policy.
German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said the West had become weaker as Washington increasingly put US interests first. He said Trump’s administration, for example, was unlikely to do much to tackle the causes of the migrant crisis - climate change, wars and persecution.
He referred to the “loss of the US as an important nation” and said that while it was important to maintain dialogue with Washington, Europe needed to become stronger and Germany needed to be more prepared to work with its EU peers.