Russian President Vladimir Putin has made “a huge mistake” in his treatment of dissident Alexei Navalny, according to his French counterpart.
“I think this is a huge mistake, even for Russian stability today,” French President Emmanuel Macron said Thursday during an Atlantic Council event in Paris. “So the Navalny case is a very serious situation.”
Macron’s bluntness could irritate Kremlin officials as Russian security services attempt to contain protests that erupted when Navalny was arrested after returning from Germany, where he had recovered from a poisoning attack that involved a Soviet-era, military-grade nerve agent. His subsequent imprisonment has sparked U.S. and European interest in additional sanctions on Russia, but Macron cautioned against alienating the Kremlin too profoundly.
“I think you have to deal with your history and your geography,” Macron said. “It’s impossible to have peace and stability in Europe … if you are not in a situation to negotiate with Russia.”
That observation could signal an effort to temper the Biden administration’s development of a plan to punish Russian human rights abuses. It reflects a paradox of transatlantic relations, as European allies want President Biden to engender more confidence in the U.S. commitment to NATO without adopting a posture that European officials deem too risky or stymies opportunities for economic partnerships with Russia.
“Europe is in a tough spot because the United States has a much tougher stance on Russia than Europe does,” said Rachel Rizzo, the Center for a New American Security fellow who broached the topic of Russia at the Atlantic Council forum. “We, as Americans, have the benefit of having two very large oceans in between us, and so we’re able to sort of be tougher — at least in our rhetoric, if not directly in our foreign policy.”
Macron pointed to Ukraine, where Russian forces annexed Crimea and deployed into eastern Ukrainian territory, and the stalled political crisis in Belarus as a sign that Western democratic policies regarding Russia have proceeded poorly.
“And when I look at the outcomes of the past strategy … our results are not positive,” he said.
Still, he tried to keep in check expectations for his own overtures to Putin.
“Our ability to deliver and to have concrete results in the short term is very low,” the French leader said. “In my experience, even with the current people in charge in Russia, is that the more you reengage, the more you [apply] reasonable pressure to avoid any divergence … you can get few results, but, at least, you avoid stronger divergence. It will take years, perhaps decades, but we do need such a dialogue for European peace and stability.”
