Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was reluctant to comment on French President Emmanuel Macron being pushed in the face by his spouse Brigitte, saying it was unacceptable to talk about such family issues. However, he went on to point out that a wife always has a reason to slap her husband.
The footage of the incident was captured as the French first couple arrived in Hanoi, Vietnam, on May 25. The video shows the aircraft door opening to reveal Macron speaking to someone off-camera. Moments later, two arms in red sleeves reach out and push his face, covering his mouth and jaw. Macron steps back, smiles, and waves after noticing the cameras. Brigitte soon appears beside him, wearing a red jacket.
The video later went viral, prompting the president to downplay the incident, describing it as the two of them just “bickering and joking.”
“You know, I am convinced that it would be inappropriate for us to comment on the Macron family’s private matters,” Peskov said. “On the other hand, if a wife slaps her husband, she never does it without a reason, but still, it’s not our business.”
Shifting away from celebrity gossip, the spokesman emphasized that Paris isn’t working towards peace, and opting to increase pressure on Moscow instead.
“France still believes that something can be achieved with Russia through pressure — this reflects a fundamental misunderstanding of the nature of our country,” Peskov said, adding that the fact that the French leader “does not understand the reality of the situation” is regrettable.
France has provided over €3.8 billion ($4.2 billion) in military aid to Kiev since the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in February 2022, according to the Kiel Institute.
Authorities in Paris have advocated deploying French troops to Ukraine in the event of a peace deal between Kiev and Moscow, arguing that it could help deter Russia. In March, Macron announced a French-British plan to prepare such a “reassurance force” in the event of a ceasefire. The announcement sparked protests in Paris against what demonstrators called NATO’s militaristic stance.
Russia has repeatedly warned it won’t accept the presence of any NATO country’s troops in Ukraine, and pointed out that the military bloc’s expansion in Europe had been a primary reason for the conflict.