Word: poncet
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...Giraud immediately took action to cancel the oil contract with Libya. Foreign Ministry officials were dispatched from Paris to reassure other French-speaking nations such as Niger, Senegal and the Ivory Coast that France was prepared to bolster their defenses. Said French Foreign Minister Jean François-Poncet: "France will, as it always has, stand by its African friends to defend their security...
...Paris, President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing did not deem Anderson important enough to grant him an audience, but the Congressman did meet with French Foreign Minister Jean François-Poncet and had a long discussion with Premier Raymond Barre...
...least be explored. Said he: "We should see if we can build on it." Carrington observed, however, that the Soviet plan would simply ratify the conquest of Afghanistan and did not even provide guarantees for a Soviet withdrawal. The initial view of France's Foreign Minister Jean Francois-Poncet: "Nothing...
Neither side gave an inch during Vance's 4½-hour meeting with French Foreign Minister Jean François-Poncet. French officials remained convinced that U.S. insistence on "punishing" the Soviets would only make Moscow dig in deeper. Explained one diplomat: "The European view is that we should retain the leverage to put pressure on the Soviets because we think there's still a chance of getting them to pull out of Afghanistan...
Nonetheless, many Frenchmen have criticized President Giscard for being painfully slow to respond to events in Afghanistan. His first reaction, mumbled at a New Year's party for French reporters, was that the Soviet move may not have been "premeditated." Foreign Minister Jean François-Poncet later tried to justify the equivocal French response by noting (incorrectly) that "France buys more oil from the Soviet Union than from Iran." Even the Giscard-Schmidt communiqué appeared indecisive to some. "It says to the Soviets, 'The next time you pull an Afghanistan you will be punished,' " complained...