Part V - International Relations and Diplomacy
The relationship with Russia
Russia is the most delicate diplomatic case for a sovereign France: precisely because it requires resisting two symmetrically dangerous pressures, the Atlanticist pressure that demands automatic alignment against Moscow, and the inverse temptation of an ideological rapprochement in the name of sovereignism. Sovereign France refuses both.
Neither alignment nor naivety
Russia is a major nuclear power, a millennial civilization, an inescapable actor in the European and global balance. It will not disappear and no Western pressure will transform it. The French position is that of lucid realism: neither the existential enemy that Atlanticist discourse constructs, nor the natural partner that some fantasize about.
The war in Ukraine: a sovereign position
The war in Ukraine is a conflict between historically linked nations whose borders were never stabilized after the collapse of the USSR. This settling of scores does not directly concern France. Getting involved, taking sides, sending weapons or troops: this is interference, and interference is precisely what French doctrine refuses on principle, universally and non-selectively.
The sanctions decided within the EU framework were decided without a French sovereign mandate. They are lifted: not out of pro-Russian sentiment, but on the grounds of non-interference and because they penalize the French economy without demonstrable effect on Russian behavior.
Whatever the tension of the moment, France maintains an open diplomatic channel with Moscow. This is an absolute rule: diplomacy only makes sense in difficult moments. This permanent channel allows France to play a role of mediation and de-escalation that countries fully aligned with the American position cannot play.
What France says to Russia
We are neither your enemies nor your automatic allies. We apply with you the same principles as with any other state: non-interference, permanent dialogue, cooperation where interests converge, firmness where they diverge.