FRENCH PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES AND RUSSIA

Fillon’s views on Russia, in particular, fly in the face of the current European consensus. Fillon believes French policy has been too aligned with the US, whether on Ukraine or the Middle East in spite of the countries' significant differences in opinion on these issues. And that, with ISIS and Islamism being the top security priorities for France following the terror attacks since January 2015, an alliance with Vladimir Putin's Russia is badly needed, even at the price of conflating ISIS and other terrorist groups with any other forces fighting against the Assad government.