Sarkozy's visit to Moscow

According to Axel Veiel, the French president's stance towards Russia is more confrontational than that of his predecessor Jacques Chirac. "French-Russian relations would be in a sorry state were it not for the fact that Putin and his guest have something in common: they are both great pragmatists. Sarkozy's reproaches on the subject of Russia's human rights violations in Chechnya are therefore likely to be forgotten as soon as it comes to cooperating on an economic level to the advantage of both sides. ... Perhaps Sarkozy will even manage to convince his counterpart that it's in Russia's best interests to support Paris's policy on Iran and step up pressure on Tehran."

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