The Interview

In an interview with FRANCE 24, a top adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky slammed Russian President Vladimir Putin's Victory Day speech in Moscow on Tuesday, saying Putin celebrated the 1945 victory against the Nazis even while "attacking Kyiv", referring to a barrage of cruise missiles lobbed at the Ukrainian capital overnight. Mykhailo Podolyak went on to say that any Ukrainian counter-offensive would include attempts to retake Crimea and the occupied territories of the Donbas region.

In an interview with FRANCE 24, Angola's President Joao Lourenco said he did not think an all-out war between Rwanda and DR Congo was on the horizon. He said he was hopeful that his mediation efforts to restore peace in DR Congo's east would bear fruit. Lourenco explained that the M23 rebel group was upholding a ceasefire reached a few weeks ago and that the next step was for the group to be contained and disarmed.

FRANCE 24 spoke to Natalia Gavrilita, who was prime minister of Moldova from August 2021 until February 2023. She reacted to the recent protests calling for the resignation of President Maia Sandu, saying that a US State Department document "clearly indicates evidence of Russian meddling in Moldova's democratic process". She also stressed that Moldova is "not looking to join the EU for the name only", but rather that "we are ready to do the hard work [and] transform the country, because this is actually better for the Moldovan people".

In a interview with FRANCE 24, Moldova's minister of internal affairs said that Moscow was attempting to "reinstall a pro-Russian government" in Moldova, and that "Russian interest groups" and "fugitive oligarchs" were behind recent protests calling for the resignation of the pro-Western President Maia Sandu. "There is clear evidence that these so-called protests were financed, that the transportation of people to Chisinau [was] being truly organised, very well targeted, in clear places and clear timing with clear instructions. And [in] the media space, there is clearly pro-Russian propaganda, there is [a] clear pro-Russian narrative. If you look into the investigations about the cyber attacks, many of the IP addresses were coming from Russia," Ana Revenco said.

Russian dissident Vladmir Osechkin spoke to FRANCE 24 from the French city of Biarritz, where he has been living in exile since 2015. The founder of Gulagu.net, an NGO that documents abuses in the Russian prison system, believes the Russian secret services "tried to organise his liquidation" in September 2022. Osechkin compared Russian President Vladimir Putin to a "new Stalin" at the head of a 21st-century Gulag, "pushing inmates to head to war" in Ukraine.

In an interview with FRANCE 24 in New York, former US counterterrorism czar Richard Alan Clarke described the main threats facing the United States' cyberspace and warned that Russia's cyber weapons could potentially "do a lot of damage" in the US. To explain why this hasn't happened so far, he cited an "unwritten rule" he believes the US and Russia are both following: "[if] you don't attack me, I won't attack you".

FRANCE 24 spoke to Artur Smolyaninov, a well-known Russian actor. Once acclaimed by Russian President Vladimir Putin, he has now been designated a foreign agent by Russia and forced to flee his country. Our guest explains why he has publicly opposed the war in Ukraine and even vowed to fight on Ukraine's side: Ukrainians "are fighting for their freedom".

Mohamed ElBaradei was director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) from 1997 until 2009. In an interview with FRANCE 24, he reflected on the US-led invasion of Iraq 20 years ago this week, which he opposed. "If I now look in hindsight, it was not really about weapons of mass destruction. It was about regime change," he said. ElBaradei added: "They (the US) thought the best pretext was to say that Saddam Hussein was linked to al Qaeda and had WMDs (...) They didn't really have any evidence. It was all about belief. And they started a slew of deception and misinformation."

In an interview with FRANCE 24 after the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin, the court’s chief prosecutor Karim Khan said it was an important day for international justice. The warrant marked “the first time ever that a head of state from a P5 has been charged” by the international court, said Khan referring to the UN Security Council’s permanent five members.

Former Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan granted an interview to FRANCE 24 from Lahore. Earlier this week, police came to arrest him at his home for not appearing in court over a corruption case, a move that sparked clashes with his supporters. "They are scared of the coming elections on April 30 and they wanted me in jail before that," Khan told FRANCE 24, adding that he would attend a court hearing on March 18. "No political leader has ever suffered this sort of attack," he added.