French President Macron puts pressure on Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to receive Russian titanium for Airbus. Reuters’ claim is not denied yet.
According to Reuters, French President Emmanuel Macron personally intervened to urge Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to lift sanctions on Russian titanium for Airbus and other aerospace industries.
The request came during a phone discussion between the two presidents on March 29, weeks after Canada broke ranks with allies and imposed restrictions on the critical metal, worrying France-based Airbus and others that still rely on Russian supplies in Canadian or other operations.
According to a source close to the French leader, Macron made a “significant effort” to persuade Trudeau to offer an exemption to European corporations.
According to a source, at least one other European government contributed to the lobbying effort.
Ottawa originally remained tough, but it changed its policy within days, granting Airbus and other concessions. The climbdown, originally reported by Reuters, sparked a political debate over sanctions policy and attracted protest from Ukraine’s envoy.
“It was not easy to have the sanctions withdrawn. I believe if the French government had not kept raising it at that level, we would have remained firm,” stated the Canadian insider.
Both leaders’ offices declined to comment, and Airbus stated it was “complying with all applicable sanctions related to Russia”.
The high-level scramble to keep Russian titanium flowing demonstrates how difficult it is for Western nations to punish Russia for its war in Ukraine without disrupting supply chains in businesses that must prepare years in advance. Russia’s state-owned VSMPO-AVISMA has historically been the largest manufacturer of aerospace-grade titanium.
French President Lobbies in favour of Russia
