France slams Lavrov, claims Russia ignores international law

France's Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot stated on Friday that Russia's actions in both Ukraine and Iran fail to uphold international law, responding to remarks made by his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, in a French TV interview.

"Mr. Lavrov was ​able to calmly ‌spread his propaganda last night on a French television channel ... ‌You do not defend international law by ​launching a war of aggression," Barrot told reporters on the sidelines ​of a G7 meeting ​in France, News.Az reports, citing foreign media.

Speaking to ​France Television on Thursday, Lavrov said ​that by standing with Iran in its war against the US and Israel, Russia's focus ⁠was on upholding international law. He added that the US-Israeli strikes on Iran that sparked the Middle East war had breached these rules.

But he rejected any notion of Russia breaking international law in Ukraine, claiming its forces never targeted "exclusively civilian" targets.

After the interview, Ukraine's ambassador to France Vadym Omelchenko said on X people must be wondering why French television had given a platform to "a war criminal".

Russia specialist Dimitri Minic described the interview as "catastrophic".

"In case France TV teams still underestimate information warfare, they should understand that Moscow has made it the central weapon of its war against the West," he wrote on X.

Researcher Etienne Marcuz described it as a "disgraceful interview during which a minister from an opposing power can calmly reel off his talking points at prime time on France's main public channel, and almost without any pushback" from the television presenter.

News.Az