Russian chief of General Staff of Armed Forces held negotiations in Paris with French Defense Minister

On Thursday, Anatoly Kvashnin, chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces held negotiations with French Defense Minister Michele Alliot-Marie in Paris.

Official representative of the French Defense Ministry Jean-Francois Bureau stated that in the course of the meeting "Alliot-Marie and Kvashnin considered matters of international security, including the military sphere." Bureau stressed the parties discussed expansion of French-Russian cooperation in the military area, and both.

According to Bureau, the current visit of Anatoly Kvashnin to France confirms Russian and French intentions to intensify bilateral cooperation.

The official representative stated that in addition to that, the French Defense Minister and the Russian General "welcomed the document on establishment of a bilateral council on security matters signed in the course of the recent visit to Moscow by French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin." Jean-Francois Bureau emphasized that "in their opinion, establishment of the Council was the proof that France and Russia intended to work together on matters of national security, to openly discuss matters of Russian-French military interaction." On 12 July, Chief of the Russian General Staff Anatoly Kvashnin will visit the French Mediterranean Navy base in Toulon where he would familiarize himself with the modern French nuclear aircraft carrier "Charles de Gaulle" which was the largest aircraft carrier in the Navy of Western European countries.