Tag: Vladimir Putin

New French President Emmanuel Macron raised LGBT rights and Chechnya in his tense first meeting with Vladimir Putin. The French leader met with the Russian leader today for the first time since his election earlier this month. During the pair’s behind-closed-doors meeting, President Macron raised the alleged purge of gay men in Chechnya, as well as wider issues regarding LGBT people’s rights across Russia. Macron, a strong supporter of equality, vowed in a joint press conference with Putin to be “constantly vigilant...

Angela Merkel is pressuring Russian President Vladimir Putin to investigate and put a stop to reported abuses of the LGBTQ community in Chechnya. The German chancellor, visiting Russia for the first time in two years, said she raised the issue with Putin, along with other human rights issues, during a meeting. In a joint press conference with Putin in Sochi held afterward, she made clear that Germany is taking the reports seriously and urges Russia, of which Chechnya is a...