French foreign minister says dialogue with Russia no longer in France's 'interest'

France's foreign minister said on Monday, April 8, it was no longer in Paris's "interest" to talk to Russia after differing accounts emerged from a rare phone call about last month's deadly attack on a Moscow concert hall.

"It is not in our interest currently to hold discussions with Russian officials because the statements and the summaries issued about them are lies," Stéphane Séjourné told broadcasters France24 and RFI.

French President Emmanuel Macron last week slammed what he termed Russia's "bizarre and threatening" tone following a conversation between French Defence Minister Sébastien Lecornu and his Russian counterpart Sergei Shoigu. France said Lecornu had aimed to pass on to Moscow "useful information" about the March 22 attack that killed more than 140 people near the Russian capital. The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack.