French President Nicolas Sarkozy once accused Russia of "brutality" in exercising its energy hegemony and said he's determined to punish Iran for its nuclear program. Now, the steely-tongued Frenchman may be about to meet his match.
Sarkozy was to pay his first presidential visit to Russia yesterday and today for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin at a time when many eyes are focused on the Russian president's political future and increasing global assertiveness.
"Russia is back on the world scene," Sarkozy said in an interview published yesterday in Russian daily Rossiiskaya Gazeta. However, he added, Russia "should assume and exercise the responsibilities that go side by side with its legitimate aspiration to be a great power."
Sarkozy sees Putin days before the Russian leader travels to Iran, where Russia is building a nuclear reactor that has contributed to concerns in the West about Iran's atomic intentions.
Sarkozy will be the first western leader to meet Putin since his announcement last week that he would lead Russia's biggest party into parliamentary elections in December, leaving the door open to a job as prime minister. That would allow him to keep Russia's reins even after his second presidential term expires early next year.
French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner drily called Putin's move "original," and lamented that Russia's opposition was not being taken seriously.
Much as Putin did after succeeding Boris Yeltsin, Sarkozy has sought to reassert and redefine French foreign policy since taking over from Jacques Chirac in May. For Sarkozy, talking tough on Russia has been a running theme.
He has expressed concern about human rights in Chechnya and media freedoms, and accused Russia in August of "a certain brutality" in using its energy weight to influence smaller neighbors once under Moscow's political control.
"When Russia cuts supplies of energy to one part of Europe without warning, trust suffers," he told Rossiiskaya Gazeta.
Sarkozy has also taken a firmer line on Iran's nuclear program, shifting closer to the US in his insistence on tough sanctions and even his mention of the possibility of war.
"No one should doubt France's seriousness and determination" on the Iranian issue, he was quoted as saying.
An endangered baby pygmy hippopotamus that shot to social media stardom in Thailand has become a lucrative source of income for her home zoo, quadrupling its ticket sales, the institution said Thursday. Moo Deng, whose name in Thai means “bouncy pork,” has drawn tens of thousands of visitors to Khao Kheow Open Zoo this month. The two-month-old pygmy hippo went viral on TikTok and Instagram for her cheeky antics, inspiring merchandise, memes and even craft tutorials on how to make crocheted or cake-based Moo Dengs at home. A zoo spokesperson said that ticket sales from the start of September to Wednesday reached almost
‘BARBAROUS ACTS’: The captain of the fishing vessel said that people in checkered clothes beat them with iron bars and that he fell unconscious for about an hour Ten Vietnamese fishers were violently robbed in the South China Sea, state media reported yesterday, with an official saying the attackers came from Chinese-flagged vessels. The men were reportedly beaten with iron bars and robbed of thousands of dollars of fish and equipment on Sunday off the Paracel Islands (Xisha Islands, 西沙群島), which Taiwan claims, as do Vietnam, China, Brunei, Malaysia and the Philippines. Vietnamese media did not identify the nationalities of the attackers, but Phung Ba Vuong, an official in central Quang Ngai province, told reporters: “They were Chinese, [the boats had] Chinese flags.” Four of the 10-man Vietnamese crew were rushed
CHINESE ICBM: The missile landed near the EEZ of French Polynesia, much to the surprise and concern of the president, who sent a letter of protest to Beijing Fijian President Ratu Wiliame Katonivere called for “respect for our region” and a stop to missile tests in the Pacific Ocean, after China launched an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). In a speech to the UN General Assembly in New York on Thursday, Katonivere recalled the Pacific Ocean’s history as a nuclear weapons testing ground, and noted Wednesday’s rare launch by China of an ICBM. “There was a unilateral test firing of a ballistic missile into the Pacific Ocean. We urge respect for our region and call for cessation of such action,” he said. The ICBM, carrying a dummy warhead, was launched by the
As violence between Israel and Hezbollah escalates, Iran is walking a tightrope by supporting Hezbollah without being dragged into a full-blown conflict and playing into its enemy’s hands. With a focus on easing its isolation and reviving its battered economy, Iran is aware that war could complicate efforts to secure relief from crippling sanctions. Cross-border fire between Israel and Hezbollah, sparked by Hamas’ attack on Israel on Oct. 7 last year, has intensified, especially after last week’s sabotage on Hezbollah’s communications that killed 39 people. Israeli airstrikes on Hezbollah strongholds in Lebanon followed, killing hundreds. Hezbollah retaliated with rocket barrages. Despite the surge in
RSS