Zakharova calls French FM "liar" over Russia remarks

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has accused French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot of lying about his assessment of Russia’s situation.

Zakharova, writing on Telegram, was responding to Barrot’s remarks that Russia was “in a difficult position” and controlled less territory than it had five years ago.

“They are all consuming something there, which is the elephant in the room. And does the French ambassador not report this nonsense about territorial control to his minister, in order to please his sovereign? Barrot would be better off inviting Pierre de Gaulle — the grandson of the legendary French general, who recently obtained a residence permit in Russia — for a conversation and asking him: what is it like in ‘Moscow, burned by fire’? What a liar this Barrot is,” Zakharova said.

Barrot has recently argued that Russia is facing serious military, political and economic difficulties. In an interview on French television, he said Russia was “weak” and claimed that Russian forces controlled only half the territory they had occupied five years earlier, at the beginning of the war.

By Tamilla Hasanova