'Fake news': France slams Russian cocaine claims

Conspiracy theorists posting on pro-Russian social media channels have accused the leaders of France, Germany and the UK of using cocaine while on a train to Kyiv, which has been blasted as "fake news". 

At the heart of the claims was a tissue left on the table between President Emmanuel Macron of France, Germany's Chancellor Friedrich Merz and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer while heading to talks with Volodymyr Zelensky on May 10, the Guardian reports.

Kremlin's foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova wrote on her Telegram channel, "it’s like a joke: a Frenchman, an Englishman, and a German got on a train — and did a line". 

"Apparently, they were so out of it they forgot to hide the paraphernalia (a small bag and spoon) before the journalists arrived. Europe’s fate is in the hands of placeholders who are dependent, in every sense of the word."

The Élysée Palace struck back on X, saying the "fake news" was being spread by enemies abroad and at home, and to "be vigilant against manipulation". 

"When European unity becomes inconvenient, disinformation goes so far as to make a simple tissue look like drugs."

A photo alongside the post showed a close-up of the tissue with the caption: "This is a tissue. For blowing your nose."

An envoy for Russian President Vladimir Putin and head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, Kirill Dmitriev, also weighed in, asking if the video was AI or real. 

"If it’s real — are we looking at sugar or something entirely different? If it’s something else, it explains a lot of recent ideas and proposals," he said on a post to X. 

The Centre for Countering Disinformation posted to X that the claim was "absurd" and that "Russian propaganda has once again embarrassed itself attempting to discredit European leaders". 

"By spreading such low-grade fakes, Moscow seeks to discredit the visits of Western leaders to Kyiv and distract from Ukraine’s peace initiatives backed by its partners."

Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot accused Russia of being "so desperate to prevent peace in Ukraine that you are now propagating blatant hoaxes", he said on X.

"This is irresponsible — and lame."