Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Friday ruled out that Russian President Vladimir Putin would have any problem with the withdrawal of the National Order of the Legion of Honor, the highest distinction awarded by the French head of state, after French President Emmanuel Macron opened that possibility after handing it to his Ukrainian counterpart Volodimir Zelensky.
«I don’t think this poses any problem for President Putin, nor that it could become a priority issue for him. He has other issues ahead of him that are well known to the citizens of Russia,» Peskov told a press conference, Interfax agency reports.
Putin received the distinction in 2006 from the then French President Jacques Chirac, at a time when relations between the two countries were at their best. Established in 1802 by Napoleon Bonaparte, it is the highest recognition of military and civilian merit of the French State.
Now, on the occasion of the Russian invasion and coinciding with Zelenski’s visit this week in Paris, Macron presented him with this distinction and did not rule out the possibility of withdrawing it from Putin, since despite being a «symbolic» gesture it is also «very important».
In that sense, Macron has expressed that he will wait for the «right» moment to strip Putin of that medal if he finally does so. «It’s not a decision I have to make today,» he said.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
