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Vladimir Putin postpones Paris talks on Syria Vladimir Putin postpones Paris talks on Syria
(35 minutes later)
Vladimir Putin will not travel to Paris next week after declining an offer to meet François Hollande for talks on Syria, a source close to the French presidency has said. The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, will not visit Paris next week after declining to meet François Hollande for talks on Syria, a source in the French president’s office has said, in the latest deterioration of ties between Moscow and the west.
“There were contacts between the Kremlin and the Élysée this morning to offer to Putin a working visit on Syria, but excluding all other events that President Hollande could have taken part in,” the source said. “In response to this proposal, Russia has just indicated that it wants to postpone the visit.” French officials have been looking for ways to put pressure on Russia after Moscow vetoed a French-drafted UN security council resolution on Syria. Their growing anger at what has been taking place in the rebel-held areas of Aleppo had led them to reconsider whether to host Putin on 19 October.
The Russian leader was scheduled to inaugurate a new Russian Orthodox cathedral and visit a Russian art exhibition in the French capital. “There were contacts between the Kremlin and the Élysée this morning to offer to Putin a working visit on Syria, but excluding all other events that president Hollande could have taken part in,” the source said.
“In response to this proposal, Russia has just indicated that it wants to postpone the visit.”
The Russian leader was due to inaugurate a new Russian Orthodox cathedral and visit a Russian art exhibition in the French capital.
While France has said it is vital to keep dialogue going with Moscow and not cut ties, events in Syria have damaged relations, with the two parties supporting opposite sides in the conflict.
On Monday, the French foreign minister, Jean-Marc Ayrault, said his diplomats were working to find a way for the International Criminal Court prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, to launch an investigation into what France says are war crimes committed by Syrian and Russian forces in eastern Aleppo.
Diplomats said Paris was leading discussions on whether to impose new EU sanctions on Russia specifically over Syria, where Moscow backs the president, Bashar al-Assad.
Earlier on Tuesday, the Russian ambassador to France, Alexander Orlov, had said Putin still wanted to come to France as planned on 19 October.
“I think dialogue needs to continue and we are here to talk, especially in difficult moments,” Orlov told Europe 1 radio.
British MPs will participate in an emergency debate on Tuesday, in which the former cabinet minister Andrew Mitchell will say western air forces must be willing to confront Russian military jets over Syria to enforce a no-fly zone.