The heads of the Russian and French parliaments’ upper houses presented a joint report titled Russia-France: For a Trust-Based Agenda.
Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matvienko has held talks with President of the French Senate Gerard Larcher via videoconference.
The event was also attended by Deputy Speaker and member of the Federation Council-French Senate cooperation group Ilyas Umakhanov, Chair of the Federation Council’s Committee on International Affairs and head of the Federation Council-French Senate cooperation group Konstantin Kosachyov, First Deputy Chair of the International Affairs Committee Sergei Kislyak, Deputy Chair of the International Affairs Committee Farit Mukhametshin, and member of the International Affairs Committee Alexei Kondratyev.
During the talks, the heads of the upper houses of the Russian and French parliaments presented a joint report titled Russia-France: For a Trust-Based Agenda. The report was prepared by the two houses’ concerned committees.
“It was possible to prepare this report primarily because we did not set any preconditions. We had also agreed not to avoid any delicate problems,” Valentina Matvienko pointed out. She also said that parliamentary diplomacy had huge potential for helping normalise international relations.
The Federation Council Speaker noted that the report had been issued ahead of the Victory Parade in Moscow and reminded those present about the Federation Council’s address to foreign parliaments and people of the world on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of Victory over Nazism.
Valentina Matvienko emphasised the importance of joining efforts in defence of security, adding that current divides in Europe could well be overcome.
“Let’s not wait any longer but start acting in the spirit of our close inter-parliamentary ties,” she said.
The Federation Council Speaker mentioned the common efforts of the Russian and French MPs to develop a new style of relations, a new system of international affairs, and a new form of international conduct in Europe. Valentina Matvienko noted that the preservation of the international system of arms control and reduction treaties and agreements called for creating a parliamentary negotiations platform. “We believe it important to promote the rapprochement and mutual adjustment of integration projects in Eurasia,” she pointed out.
Gerard Larcher mentioned the long-time ties that underlie the desire of Russia and France for a lasting peace. He cited the historical trip of General Charles de Gaulle to Stalingrad during his official visit to the Soviet Union in the winter of 1944, where he said that the world could see the greatness of the Russian people who can fight and deliver blows and who had preserved their unity despite all the trials. Gerard Larcher expressed confidence that the defeat of Nazism would have been impossible without an alliance with the Soviet Union.
The President of the French Senate noted that the Russian and French MPs must move further and quicker if circumstances so require.
According to Chair of the Federation Council’s Committee on International Affairs Konstantin Kosachyov, the Russian and French MPs agree that some aspects of the current world order are especially important.
Chairman of the French Senate Select Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Armed Forces Christian Cambon pointed out that a trust-based agenda should produce practical results and that parliaments must encourage their governments to move on towards rapprochement.
Konstantin Kosachyov and Christian Cambon presented the copies of the joint report, Russia-France: For a Trust-Based Agenda, to the speakers of the two upper houses Valentina Matvienko and Gerard Larcher, as well as to Russian Ambassador to France Alexei Meshkov and French Ambassador to Russia Pierre Levy.