* Hollande has cool relationship with Putin
* Russian investment in France dwarfed by French FDI in
Russia
* Russia’s rights record dogs ties with West
By Julien Ponthus
PARIS, Feb 27 (Reuters) – President Francois Hollande will
aim to balance French concerns over Russia’s human rights record
with a push to boost trade ties during a debut Moscow visit on
Thursday that could prove a diplomatic obstacle course.
An encounter in Paris last June between the newly-elected
Socialist Hollande and Russia’s Vladimir Putin bristled with
tension, unlike the cosy meetings between Putin and Hollande’s
conservative predecessors Nicolas Sarkozy and Jacques Chirac.
Aides on both sides want to avoid the full-frontal clash on
rights that marked German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s trip to
Moscow last year, when she accused Moscow of stifling dissent.
Moreover, with the French economy edging closer to recession
and domestic demand moribund, Hollande needs all the outside
help he can get to kickstart growth, and will be pushing for
Russian business to step up investment in France.
Yet everything from Moscow’s support of Syrian leader Bashar
al-Assad in defiance of the West to Putin’s very public relish
at actor Gerard Depardieu’s decision to take Russian nationality
for tax reasons means the scope for misunderstandings is great.
“You can get on with someone without loving them,” veteran
Russia specialist Helene Carrere d’Encausse said of the strained
pragmatism she saw defining the visit, whose high-point is an
1100 GMT joint news conference with Hollande and Putin on.
Hollande aides insist that, aside from Syria, the positions
of Paris and Moscow converge in several areas – notably on Mali,
where Russia has backed a U.N. resolution which is a key part of
French efforts to extricate its soldiers and put African troops
in the front line against al Qaeda allies.
RIGHTS RECORD
Russia sees Tuesday’s move by major powers to offer Iran
some sanctions relief in return for a halt of some atomic work
as a sign that France and other Western states are moving closer
to its thinking on an issue that has divided the U.N. Security
Council for years.
“In bilateral ties I see no major problems,” said Alexei
Pushkov, head of foreign affairs committee in the Russian
parliament’s lower chamber.
“From my contacts with the French lawmakers I get the
impression they have a calm attitude towards Russia. Of course
there is come criticism, but not to the extent that can be heard
in the U.S. Congress or the German Bundestag,” he added.
French officials insist Putin’s embrace of Depardieu after
his decision to seek exile from French taxes on the rich will
not jar relations – even with the actor’s outing this weekend to
the Chechnya region where rights groups accuse security services
of extrajudicial killings and other abuses.
But Hollande is under pressure at home to raise human rights
concerns including the fate of Putin critics such as Mikhail
Khodorkovsky, 49, once Russia’s richest man and now serving 13
years jail on fraud and tax evasion charges.
“The last year has been the worst for human rights in Russia
in recent memory, and Hollande should not miss this chance to
persuade Putin to turn things around,” said Rachel Denber of New
York-based Human Rights Watch, pointing to new laws which she
said restricted public assembly and Internet content in Russia.
The two leaders may broach delicate energy issues, with the
European Union seeking to wind down its gas reliance on Russia
and Moscow angry over EU efforts to force dominant suppliers
such as Russia’s Gazprom to sell off infrastructure.
But Paris is keener to focus on raising Russian investment
in France, which at around one billion euros only accounts for a
12th of the value of French investment in Russia.
While no major deal is due to be announced, small economic
cooperation pacts, plans to facilitate visas and student
exchanges are likely to be announced.
(Additional reporting by Gabriela Baczynska in Moscow; Writing
by Mark John; Editing by Jon Boyle)
