"Shameful" Nicolas Sarkozy is under fire to defend Putin's Ukrainian invasion
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More than ten years after he left the Élysée presidential palace after a term in office, Nicolas Sarkozy is once again making political waves in France and abroad. The publishers of the former French president have suggested that the second volume of his memoirs, Le Temps des Combats , be published today, after an international controversy erupted over his comments on Russia and Ukraine. Saying that he left politics in 2012, Sarkozy still retains his political influence in France, where he has positioned himself as determinant of the conservative Les Republicans party for 2027 presidential election and appointed interior minister Gérald Darmanin as his preferred candidate. In an interview last week to promote the 560-page book, Sarkozy defended Vladimir Putin and urged Ukraine to accept Russia's invasion of Crimea and other disputed territories. He also insisted that Ukraine should not be allowed to join NATO or the European Union and that Russia should remain "neutral" to allay fears of being surrounded by "enemy neighbors". In a preliminary copy obtained by Observer, Sarkozy goes further, describing both sides of the conflict fueled by Russian invasion of Ukraine as "combatants" and criticizing EU and US support for Kiev. “It is said that we are fighting against Russia without a fight. Obviously, we do not operate on land, but deliver weapons to one of the warring parties,” he writes. Russia will remain our neighbor whether we like it or not. We must find ways and means to restore neighborly or at least calmer relations. "Russia must abandon any military action against its neighbors... Ukraine must promise to remain neutral... NATO can also confirm Russia's willingness to respect and take into account its fear of encirclement by hostile neighbors." He described the return of Crimea to Ukraine as "fantasy". Nicolas Sarkozy welcoming Vladimir Putin at the Élysée Palace in June 2011. Franck Prevel Critics accused the 68-year-old former president of being a "Kremlin influencer", pointing out that Sarkozy has long boasted of his friendship with Putin. Sarkozy's former intelligence adviser, Jérôme Poirot, said his comments were "shameful" and that history was being rewritten. Sarkozy claims that France Germany helped avoid a third world war by recognizing Putin's "red lines" on national borders and by vetoing the accession of Ukraine Georgia to NATO in April 2008. Poirot said he did not understand how damaging the former president's negotiations with the Kremlin were. has been; Four months later, Putin sent tanks to Georgia and occupied Crimea four years later. Cécile Vaissié, historian and professor of Russian and Soviet studies, said "It is not for Monsieur Sarkozy, or you, or me to decide what Ukraine will become." Sarkozy's support for Russia is consistent with France's view of "special relationship" between Moscow and Paris that emerged in the late 1960s under wartime leader Charles de Gaulle - a view still shared by many across French political spectrum. . Le Temps des Combats covers the period from 2009 - two years after Sarkozy's election - shortly before the 2012 presidential election, when he lost to Socialist François Hollande, is punctuated by scathing observations of his colleagues and rivals at home abroad. Michel Barnier, then France's Brexit Monsieur, was described as "serious but sometimes lacking in charisma", former Chancellor François Fillon was described as "cooler than I thought", while German Chancellor Angela Merkel disliked "arguments that were too intellectual"... Strict He wanted what he wanted, too bad if it was heavy, consistent, and boring”. Former British prime minister Gordon Brown is described as "an ardent and often passionate man, in love with anything to do with theory, great principles or intellectual matters". after promotion a Scottish accent that cuts like a knife,” he writes. Boris Johnson was "soon swept away by the same frivolity and disbelief that drove him to support the Brexit perversion outside of purely personal accounts". Barack Obama has been described as "quite cold, introverted, and very little concerned with those around him". In an interview to promote his book, Nicolas Sarkozy called on Ukraine to accept Russia's invasion of its territory. David Cameron escapes Sarkozy's withering prose and is described as the former Prime Minister “Young, smart, cheerful and really nice. I have rarely met a foreign political man whom I spontaneously wanted to befriend. I was impressed by his kindness the lack of ego in his personal relationships.” That said, Cameron's surrender to right-wing elements of the Conservative party led to "a long and deadly fall into Brexit hell" was disappointing a serious mistake, he says. Sarkozy remains a divisive figure in France. He has faced denied several charges of misconduct in office and is cur