Tough-talking Sarkozy Melts on Moscow Visit

French President Nicolas Sarkozy made his first official visit to Russia this week. Talking to press on the results of the summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Sarkozy said that the two countries will develop cooperation on energy issues and that significant progress has been made in resolving disagreements over Iran's nuclear program.

Before the visit took place there were some doubts about a positive outcome, primarily due to President Sarkozy's openly pro-American stance and his recent criticism of Russia's perceived ambitions. Sarkozy has indicated that he preferred closer relations with the U.S. to those with Russia even before he was elected. After winning the presidency, he criticized Russia for "complicating" international problems and for alleged aggressiveness in international relations.

Hovever, before the start of the visit, French journalists and political experts tried to play down Sarkozy's tone. Speaking at the video conference held by the Russian news agency RIA Novosti, Daniel Vernet of the Le Monde newspaper pointed out that "For the French president, tough statements are his ordinary style of political discourse, but our analysts have never viewed such statements as attacks against Russia." The journalist added that Sarkozy "always holds tough discussions, even with Euro­pean partners of France, not to mention his statements on domestic political issues." Moscow Neews