"Cunning" — Zakharova responded to the statement of Paris on the issuance of visas to Russians

The French Embassy in Moscow is engaged in hypocrisy and cunning, claiming that the rules for issuing visas to Russians have not changed. Paris should have added that the European Union unilaterally terminated the agreement with Russia on visa facilitation. This was stated by the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova.

"Indeed, such information is circulating in the media field. In it, the French Embassy presents the fact of issuing more than 150,000 visas to Russians in 2025 as an achievement dictated by the desire to provide our citizens with the opportunity to visit France for work, study, for tourist and personal purposes," her comments say.

As the diplomat stressed, "claiming that "the rules for Russian citizens applying for visas have not undergone significant changes," the French side is lying, forgetting to add that in 2022 the European Union unilaterally terminated the successfully applied Agreement with Russia on visa facilitation."

Zakharova recalled that this led to an increase in the cost of a Schengen visa from € 35 to € 80, an increase in the number of visa refusals, and a reduction in the length of stay on tourist visas.

"In addition, today Russians can only receive single—entry visas for specific trips, which entails for them the need to re-issue a full package of documents every time, make an appointment and incur additional material costs," the diplomat said.

In this regard, she noted that "the statements of French diplomats about the 'great importance that the embassy attaches to exchanges between our countries' sound hypocritical."

"This is said by representatives of the state, which has curtailed business, scientific, educational and humanitarian ties with Russia. Forced many French companies to close investment projects in Russia. It has banned national universities and scientific organizations from supporting exchange programs signed by them with Russian partners, and travel companies from serving French people who are going to travel to our country. It has suspended the implementation of all projects involving Russian government cultural organizations and artists who support Russia's policy, dividing Russian culture into "right" and "wrong," the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

At the same time, Zakharova pointed out that Moscow has done much more to maintain these contacts than the European Union, including France.

"We continue to unilaterally apply certain provisions of the aforementioned Agreement, and we have also kept all the countries of the European Union in the list of states whose citizens can enter the Russian Federation on a single electronic visa, which is issued online within 4 days and does not require personal submission of documents to Russian diplomatic missions and consular offices," she summed up her.