MOSCOW (Reuters) – The Kremlin said on Monday it saw no strong political will in France aimed at restoring Moscow’s relations with Paris but would follow the formation of France’s new government with interest after elections there.
Marine Le Pen’s nationalist, eurosceptic National Rally (RN), which opponents have accused of being too soft on Russia, failed to win a snap election on Sunday as the polls had predicted, with a leftist alliance unexpectedly taking the top spot in a hung parliament.
“The victory of political forces that would be supporters of efforts to restore our bilateral relations is definitely better for Russia, but so far we do not see such bright political will in anyone, so we do not harbour any special hopes or illusions in this regard,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
“Secondly, it is obvious that a drift is taking place in the moods of French voters, a drift that is really unpredictable. But we will watch the formation of government, the formation of blocs…with great interest.
“France is a very important country on the European continent, so of course, everything that happens there is interesting for us.”
Moscow has long courted leaders on Europe’s political far right and is keen to exploit any signs of division in Europe that could weaken support for Ukraine.
Le Pen has in the past expressed her admiration of President Vladimir Putin.
(Reporting by Dmitry Antonov; Writing by Alexander Marrow; Editing by Hugh Lawson and Keith Weir)
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