Ukraine protests French TV interview with Russian foreign minister
On March 26, 2026, France Télévisions' Channel 2 broadcast a 10-minute interview with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov during its 8 PM evening news segment. The interview was conducted via remote video link, with Lavrov speaking from Moscow. The broadcast reached 3.4 million viewers, and the controversy surrounding the interview continues to escalate.
In the interview, Lavrov claimed that Russia supports Iran in its confrontation with the United States and Israel in the Middle East, asserting this support is aimed at upholding international law. French Foreign Minister Baro responded during a break at the G7 summit: "Launching an aggressive war is not defending international law," emphasizing that Russia has not upheld international law either in Ukraine or in Iran. He expressed regret over Lavrov's ability to conduct such a large-scale propaganda campaign unchallenged.
The Ukrainian government also strongly opposed the interview. Ukraine’s ambassador to Paris, Omerchenko, questioned on social media platform X: "Why give a fascist and war criminal a platform to speak?"
However, Christophe Corbeau, news director at France Télévisions, stated that interviewing Lavrov carried clear journalistic value, given Russia’s significant role as a key participant in the Middle Eastern conflict and as an ally of Iran.
Lavrov’s team did not impose any restrictions on the questions asked, nor did they request prior knowledge of the questions. However, they insisted that the full content of the interview be made public. France Télévisions explained that this transparent approach is widely applied—previously, an interview with Algerian writer Boualem Sansal, who had been detained in Algeria, was fully published after his return to France. The 10-minute clip aired by France Télévisions 2 was edited from the full interview, which was published in its entirety on the network’s website.
The preparation for the Lavrov interview had been underway for years. According to the editor-in-chief of the 8 PM news program, the Moscow bureau had repeatedly requested an interview with Lavrov, but he only agreed three months ago, repeatedly rescheduling the date. The format involved a live video connection between Paris and Moscow, with simultaneous interpretation translating Russian into French, which somewhat limited journalists’ ability to respond in real time. Additionally, Lavrov would remove his headset during translation, preventing reporters from immediately challenging his statements.
The content and dissemination method of the interview have also triggered political reactions. A French lawmaker filed a complaint with France’s audiovisual regulatory authority, arguing that Lavrov’s message was disseminated “without sufficient rebuttal or contextual explanation,” constituting instrumentalization of France’s national audiovisual space. The lawmaker stressed that this practice violates the guarantee of information accuracy and underscored the importance of resisting foreign interference.
Source: rfi
Original article: toutiao.com/article/1860870143707212/
Disclaimer: This article reflects the personal views of the author