RBC Daily: Popular Front on Paris barricades
Putin satisfies French curiosity.
Despite a Tu-134 aircraft crashing near Petrozavodsk, Vladimir Putin visited the International Air Show in Le Bourget some 12 kilometres from Paris.
The French were interested why the nominees for the 2012 presidential elections have not yet been named, why there is so much hesitation and what the purpose of the Popular Front is. Putin said that they will have to wait and that he shares President Dmitry Medvedev's programme.
By tragic coincidence, Putin's visit coincided with the Tu-134 crash near Petrozavodsk. He expressed his condolences to the families of the 44 dead, and his French counterpart Francois Fillon followed suit.
"In tentative estimates, the crash occurred due to the pilot's mistake in conditions of poor visibility," Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov told journalists. "There are no plans to withdraw the Tu-134 from service because not every airliner, especially a regional one, can afford to buy a superjet."
Ivanov also praised the Sukhoi superjet's parameters.
"When we flew it to France, we even left an Airbus behind," he said. "Its pilot even asked us about our superjet. He couldn't understand what aircraft it was."
Fillon noted that French-Russian relations have become much warmer in the last four years. The prime ministers began their informal meeting before yesterday's dinner.
"We support Russia's accession to the WTO before the end of this year and we will do everything we can to annul the visa regime between Russia and Europe," Fillon said.
However, for some reason, he said, Russia objects to all of the UN Security Council's resolutions.
"First in Libya and then in Syria. Why?" he asked Putin.
"We don't want to interfere in the sovereign affairs of other countries, all the more so since it is not clear what is going on," Putin replied, asking the Frenchman if he knew the ratio of the protesters to the armed forces.
Fillon was unhappy about Russia's adamant stance.
"We'll talk about this once again during dinner," he told the media.
"It's argued that Russia has a special relationship with Syria. This used to be the case in the Soviet era. But not anymore," Putin explained, adding that Russia's only concern is how to reduce the losses to the minimum. "Syria's present relationship with France is special. As for Russia, it has no special interests to protect in Syria – no military bases, no ambitious projects, no multibillion investments."
"Look what's happening in Iraq," he said. "No reconciliation has been achieved there yet. True, they had a callous regime. But there were no extremists, no militants operating in the country in those days."
French journalists were interested in the 2012 elections no less than in Syria.
"Why is there so much uncertainty?" a local journalist queried. Putin asked for his name, but he said in broken Russian that he was scared.
"No matter who's president, he will facilitate the development of Russian-French relations," Putin reassured him.
French journalists were also interested to hear about the Popular Front. They asked about the reasons for its formation.
"The authorities are becoming anaemic to the problems of the people," Putin said nodding his head in United Russia's direction. "The dominant political force needs renewal and a flow of fresh ideas."
There are no differences with Medvedev, Putin underscored. The idea voiced at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum that the government will not build state capitalism in Russia does not exclusively belong to the president, he said.
"If you look at my previous speeches, you'll see that I have mentioned this many times," Putin said. "This is our common programme."
By Inga Vorobyova
