Valérie Pecresse, 2022 French presidential candidate. File photoPARIS, Feb 7French presidential candidate from the «Republicans» party Valerie Pecresse, during a television interview on France 2 aired in Russian, appealed to the people of Russia «together build peace in Europe.» «I want to say to the proud Russian people that we must build peace together in Europe and starting a war with Ukraine would be a terrible mistake,» Pekress said. Then, at the request of the presenter, she translated her phrase into French. Kiev and Western states have recently been constantly claiming that Russia is stepping up «aggressive actions» near the borders of Ukraine. Moscow has repeatedly denied such accusations, saying that it does not threaten anyone and does not intend to attack anyone, and claims of «Russian aggression» are used as an excuse to deploy more NATO military equipment near Russian borders.
Le Pen said that France would leave NATO if she was elected presidentThe Russian Foreign Ministry noted that the West's statements about «Russian aggression» and the possibility of helping Kiev defend itself against it are both ridiculous and dangerous. Press Secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov said that Russia is moving troops within its territory and at its own discretion. According to him, this does not threaten anyone and should not worry anyone. Pekress speaks Russian well. She herself previously admitted that at the age of 15 she was very fond of Russian literature and began to learn Russian. At that time, the only way to travel to the USSR was through communist pioneer camps, she noted. According to her, she visited Yalta in one of these communist camps, although she did not support the communist ideology. Pekress also said that during perestroika she met in Moscow with the ex-president of the USSR Mikhail Gorbachev, and then in Yekaterinburg with the first president of Russia Boris Yeltsin. As Minister of Education (2007-2011), she also visited Moscow and met with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The presidential elections in France will be held in April 2022. A number of candidates have already declared their desire to run for the presidency. In addition to Pecres, the leader of the far-right National Rally party, Marine Le Pen, the journalist and writer Eric Zemmour, the founder of the Reconquest party, the head of the left-wing Rebellious France party, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, a member of the Europe-Ecology-Greens party, were nominated for the presidency. Yannick Jadot, National Secretary of the Communist Party Fabien Roussel, Mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo (Socialists), former Minister of Justice of France Christian Tobira. Incumbent President Emmanuel Macron has not yet officially announced his participation in the presidential race.
