Condemning “fake news” and accusing Russia of seeking to undermine efforts to bring peace to Ukraine, France has slammed false claims on social media that European leaders, including French President Emmanuel Macron, were seen taking drugs on a train.
The accusation was made widely on social media by figures such as the US radio host and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, but then also propagated by Russian officials, including Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Maria Zakharova.
They shared actual footage of Macron, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz meeting in a compartment on a train to Kyiv, heading to talks on Saturday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
Photo: AFP
As Merz and Starmer arrive in the compartment, Macron is seen removing a white tissue from the table. The accounts claimed, without any evidence, that the white object contained cocaine.
Pictures taken inside the train by media showed that the white object was a crumpled tissue.
The controversy comes after repeated French warnings over Russian disinformation campaigns in Europe that have grown in intensity during its war with Ukraine.
“When European unity becomes inconvenient, disinformation goes so far as to make a simple tissue look like drugs,” the Elysee Palace said in a statement on social media.
“This fake news is being spread by France’s enemies, both abroad and at home. We must remain vigilant against manipulation,” it said.
Posting a photograph that zoomed in on the white object in question, the Elysee Palace said: “This is a tissue for blowing your nose.”
Posting another photograph of the three leaders, it added: “This is European unity to build peace.”
French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Noel Barrot accused Russia of being “desperate” to prevent peace in Ukraine.
“You are now propagating blatant hoaxes. This is irresponsible — and lame,” Barrot said.
He said in a post on social media that the disinformation has been spread by both Zakharova and Kirill Dmitriev, the senior Russian official who is the point man for talks with the US on Ukraine.
The accounts also wrongly claimed that the image was taken after their talks with Zelenskiy, when it was snapped while the leaders were on their way to Kyiv.
They also pointed to a spoon on the table that Merz picks up as purported evidence.
The viral posts have been viewed millions of times on social media. They were shared in French, English and Russian.
In France, the claims were also shared by Nicolas Dupont-Aignan, who leads a fringe far-right party.
Zelenskiy has himself long been targeted by unsubstantiated claims of drug-taking, made by Russian officials and state TV.
The Ukrainian Center for Countering Disinformation accused Russia of seeking to discredit the initiatives backed by the European leaders to end the three-year-long conflict sparked by Russia’s February 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
“This shameful incident speaks volumes about the current ‘level’ of Russian diplomacy, which has long devolved into a tool of disinformation,” it said.
France and its European allies have long accused Russia of using disinformation as a weapon aimed at influencing public opinion in Europe and weakening support for Ukraine.
France’s agency countering foreign online attacks, Viginum, on Wednesday last week said that it had tracked nearly 80 disinformation campaigns led by Russian operators between August 2023 and early March, mainly targeting Ukraine and its allies, including France.
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