French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian recently gave an extensive interview to Le Figaro on France's diplomatic orientations. Most of the Jan. 21 interview dealt with Middle Eastern issues, with emphasis on the Syrian crisis and Iran. Le Drian’s interview prepared the ground for the International Partnership Against Impunity for the Use of Chemical Weapons, an international meeting held Jan. 23 in Paris. Spearheaded by France, Great Britain, the United States, Saudi Arabia and Jordan, or the Group of Five, the meeting focused on stopping chemical weapons attacks and denying impunity to those who use or enable the use of such weapons.

The Paris meeting was timely given that it took place a few days before a new round of (unfruitful) peace talks in Vienna on resolving the Syrian crisis and less than a week ahead of the Russia-sponsored Syrian National Dialogue Congress in Sochi Jan. 29-30. Moreover, a few hours before the meeting, the United States had accused the Syrian government of a chlorine gas attack in Eastern Ghouta.

Contrary to possible appearances, the Paris meeting was not aimed at torpedoing the Sochi gathering. Le Drian mentioned in his interview that France did not formally oppose the Russian initiative — something he repeated a few days later before the French National Assembly — but he also stated that the only legitimate framework for resolving the Syrian crisis remains the United Nations-sponsored Geneva process.

A French diplomatic source talking to Al-Monitor on the condition of anonymity remarked, “Assad’s case was not at the core of the Group of Five meeting. He is just part of a bigger picture.” According to the diplomat, the international community cannot accept the banalization of the use of chemical weapons, be it in Syria or by North Korea. It should be recalled that the North Korean regime used VX nerve agent to kill Kim Jong-un’s brother in February 2017 at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport. The diplomat added, “If we do not react, one day or another, these weapons will make their way to the streets of Paris.” This posture is very much consistent with the strong appetite for disarmament in France's diplomatic circles today.