'It's tissue, not drugs': Macron mocks Russian fake news about Kyiv visit
Photo: Emmanuel Macron, Keir Starmer, and Friedrich Merz on the train to Kyiv (x.com/Elysee)
The Office of the President of France has responded to yet another fake story spread by Russian propagandists. This time, the falsehood concerned the recent trip of the leaders of the Coalition of the Willing to Kyiv, according to the Élysée Palace's Twitter (X) account.
Representatives of Macron’s office published a post with two photos from the train carriage in which European leaders traveled to the Ukrainian capital on May 10, along with explanatory captions.
The first photo shows a napkin on the table, accompanied by the clarification: "This is a tissue, for blowing your nose."
Such an item was labeled as drugs by Russian propaganda (photo: x.com/Elysee)
The second image shows representatives of European country leaders, with the caption: "This is European unity, to build peace."
"When European unity becomes inconvenient, disinformation goes so far as to make a simple tissue look like drugs. This fake news is being spread by France’s enemies, both abroad and at home. We must remain vigilant against manipulation," reads the statement.
Fake news about European leaders' trip to Kyiv
Earlier, Russian media spread false reports about an alleged "packet of white powder" or "spoon for cocaine" on the table in the train compartment with French President Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
Russian propaganda outlets circulated fantasies that the item might have been a drug, allegedly used by the European politicians on their way to Kyiv by train. They even claimed that when reporters entered the compartment, Macron quickly removed the item.
Meanwhile, French media, after analyzing the footage, concluded that the item in question was a tissue.
Visit to Kyiv by European leaders
On May 10, the leaders of the "Coalition of the Willing" arrived in Kyiv. French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
This visit took place amid efforts by European leaders to expedite the cessation of Russian military aggression and ensure a just peace in Ukraine, including a ceasefire for at least 30 days. Additionally, the leaders discussed the possibility of sending a contingent to Ukraine to monitor the ceasefire.
Furthermore, in Kyiv, during the negotiations, the "Coalition of the Willing" leaders called US President Donald Trump. The parties agreed on a call for Russia to fully cease hostilities for a period of 30 days starting from May 12 and threatened new sanctions if Russia refuses.
Also, it was recently revealed by Western media how Macron, in the interest of peace, "woke up" Trump from Kyiv when it was very early in the morning in the US.
