French TV criticized after interview with Lavrov

TT

Published 21.48

            

           Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov photographed in February. Photo: Hector Retamal/AP/TT

The French public service channel France 2 is criticized after an interview with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

Ukraine's French ambassador Vadym Omelchenko writes on X that people must wonder why French TV is giving a platform to "a war criminal". One Russia expert describes the interview as "catastrophic".

More than four years after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Lavrov claimed that Moscow is defending "international law".

He said that the US and Israel's attack on Iran earlier this year violated these rules. But Lavrov firmly denied that Russia was violating international law in Ukraine and claimed that Russian forces have never targeted civilian targets exclusively.

Ten minutes of the interview were shown in prime time in conjunction with the news broadcast on Thursday evening.