Vladimir Putin,
the Russian president, is already making waves with his war in Ukraine that has
created shortages of fuel and natural gas across the world. Now, the former KGB
operative finds himself hot in the middle of elections in France. Alexei
Navalny, the jailed Russian opposition leader, has thrown his weight behind
French President Emmanuel Macron against his competitor Marine Le Pen, a
far-right candidate friendly towards Moscow.

In a long Twitter
thread, Navalny wrote: “A Russian political prisoner addressing the voters of
France is quite ironic…I certainly, without hesitation, urge the people of
France to vote for Emmanuel Macron on April 24.” Of Marine Le Pen, Navalny
tweeted that anyone who calls himself “conservative” and is sympathetic to
Putin is actually “just a hypocrite with no conscience.”

Navalny, 45, leader
of Russia of the Future, and jailed for airing views opposed to Putin of course
doesn’t like the idea of a pro-Moscow leader in charge in France. Marine Le
Pen, 53, is one. A couple of days ago, Le Pen said she would want to keep
Russia close following the war in Ukraine because she doesn’t want Moscow cosying
up with Beijing.

“Imagine…if we let
the first producer of raw materials in the world – which is Russia – [create an
alliance] with the first factory of the world – which is China – to let them
perhaps constitute the first military power of the world. I believe that it’s
potentially a great danger,” she said.

Emmanuel Macron,
on the other hand, has come out in public to say that his talks with Putin have
stalled since the discovery of mass killings in Ukraine.

“Since the
massacres we have discovered in Bucha and in other towns, the war has taken a
different turn, so I did not speak to him again directly since, but I don’t rule
out doing so in the future,” Macron told a French television channel.

Meanwhile, Ukraine
President Volodymyr Zelensky has also come out in support of Macron in the
French elections, while remaining slightly circumspect.

“While I do not
think that I have the right to influence what happens in your country, I want
to say I have a relationship with Emmanuel Macron and I would not want to lose
that,” Zelensky says addressing the French public.

Zelensky added
that Le Pen was wrong in her views about Russia-Ukraine issues. “If Le Pen
understands she has made a mistake, our relationship could change.”