The French Defense Minister spoke to Shoigu on the phone for the first time since October 2022. He said that Paris has no information about Ukraine's involvement in the Crocus attack

French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu held a telephone conversation with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, Le Monde reported , citing a statement from the French ministry.

In a conversation with Shoigu, Lecornu “strongly condemned” the terrorist attack at Crocus City Hall and expressed France’s solidarity with the victims and their families.

He also noted that France does not have any information that would allow establishing a connection between this terrorist attack and Ukraine. The minister called on the Russian authorities to stop exploiting the tragedy in Crocus.

The French minister also "unequivocally condemned the aggressive war that Russia has unleashed in Ukraine" and recalled that France will continue to support Ukraine "as long and as intensely as necessary in its struggle for freedom and sovereignty" and to bring peace and security to the European continent.

Le Monde notes that this is the first conversation between the defense ministers of Russia and France since October 2022.

The Russian Ministry of Defense did not report on the ministers’ conversation.

Update. The Russian Defense Ministry reported that the conversation between the ministers took place “at the urgent request of the French side.” Lecornu, according to the Russian Defense Ministry, “persistently tried to convince of the non-involvement of Ukraine and Western countries” in the terrorist attack at Crocus. In turn, Shoigu said that the Russian authorities have “information about a Ukrainian trace” in organizing the attack. “The Kiev regime does nothing without the approval of Western curators. We hope that in this case, the French special services are not behind it,” the head of the Russian Defense Ministry said.

• The terrorist attack at Crocus City Hall occurred on the evening of March 22. According to the latest data, 144 people were killed and more than 500 people were injured.
• The Islamic State cell in Afghanistan, called Vilayat Khorasan, almost immediately claimed responsibility for the attack. However, Russian authorities saw a "Ukrainian trace" in the attack. Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed that after the attack, the terrorists were heading towards Ukraine, where a "window" was prepared for them to cross the border on the Ukrainian side. Ukraine denies any involvement in the attack.