Hollande uncertain on Putin visit after Aleppo veto

AFP, PARIS: French President Francois Hollande is weighing up whether to meet Russian leader Vladimir Putin in Paris next week after the Kremlin blocked a UN bid to end to the bombing of Aleppo, the French government said Monday. Putin is due in Paris on October 19 to inaugurate a new Orthodox church next to the Eiffel Tower in Paris.
On Sunday, Hollande left open the question of whether he would receive Putin, describing the scorched-earth campaign in the Syrian city of Aleppo as a war crime.
“I asked myself the question... Is it useful? Is it necessary? Can it be a way of exerting pressure? Can we get him to stop what he is doing with the Syrian regime?” Hollande told France’s TMC channel. “There are plans for talks with the Elysee Palace (seat of the French presidency) and Putin will take part in the auguration of the Russian spiritual centre,” his spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

 

Hollande uncertain on Putin visit after Aleppo veto

AFP, PARIS: French President Francois Hollande is weighing up whether to meet Russian leader Vladimir Putin in Paris next week after the Kremlin blocked a UN bid to end to the bombing of Aleppo, the French government said Monday. Putin is due in Paris on October 19 to inaugurate a new Orthodox church next to the Eiffel Tower in Paris. On Sunday, Hollande left open the question of whether he would receive Putin, describing the scorched-earth campaign in the Syrian city of Aleppo as a war crime. I asked myself the question... Is it useful? Is it necessary? Can it be a way of exerting pressure? Can we get him to stop what he is doing with the Syrian regime? Hollande told Frances TMC channel. There are plans for talks with the Elysee Palace (seat of the French presidency) and Putin will take part in the auguration of the Russian spiritual centre, his spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.