Russia objects to presence of French president at BRICS summit

Russia objected on Thursday to French President Emmanuel Macron's participation in the upcoming BRICS summit in South Africa, deeming it "unsuitable" due to his "hostile and unacceptable" policy toward Moscow.

The Russian response came just days after French Minister of Europe and Foreign Affairs Catherine Colonna said that she had informed host South Africa of Macron's desire to attend the BRICS summit in August as an "observer."

While it is up to the host country to decide whether to invite Macron or not, France's "hostile" policy towards Russia has to be taken into account, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov told reporters in Moscow.

"It is clear that the leaders of the state who pursue such a hostile and unacceptable policy for us, arguing so emphatically and with conviction that Russia needs to be isolated internationally, share the general policy of inflicting so-called 'strategic defeat' on us – such a leader is unsuitable as a guest at the BRICS," he said.

Ryabkov noted that Russia informed the South African leadership of its position and expects its point of view to be "fully accepted."

The senior diplomat pointed out that the BRICS countries, which include Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, are currently discussing the format's expansion, and one of the conditions for joining the association is to pursue a policy that prohibits the use of unilateral sanctions against any of the member states.

"It is clear that France does not meet this criterion in any way, even if the work on discussing the criteria continues; it (France) follows the opposite line," he said.

When asked about reports that the US and Iran are holding "secret talks" to restore the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), commonly known as the Iran nuclear deal, Ryabkov said that such practice has been used in the past.

"All the secrets will be revealed someday. It's obvious. We have seen situations in the past where the US and Iran conducted indirect contacts behind closed doors, and it cannot be ruled out that such contacts are taking place now," he said.

Russia supports the restoration of the JCPOA and expects the US to return to full implementation; otherwise, if some agreement is reached that deviates from the document approved by the UN Security Council in 2015, Washington's violation of this resolution will continue, he said.

The Iran nuclear deal was signed in 2015 by Iran, the US, China, Russia, France, the UK, Germany, and the EU. Under the agreement, Tehran agreed to limit its nuclear activity to civilian purposes in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions against Iran.

Former US President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew Washington from the agreement in 2018 and reimposed sanctions on Iran, prompting Tehran to stop complying with the nuclear deal.