Robert Amsterdam

According to newspaper reports and my sources in France, the recent negotiations between Nicolas Sarkozy and Dmitry Medvedev over Georgia were – to put it mildly – "very strained."

Several insiders with whom I've spoken have quoted Sarkozy as belting out “let’s get out of here; its not negotiable” in the middle of the discussions. The rest of the story I have heard through the grapevine goes like this: Apparently, shortly after the talks began Medvedev left the room, leaving the French president alone with the negotiators. Four hours into the talks with the Russian president still nowhere in sight, Sarkozy lost his temper. With the protocol snub of having been left with Russian negotiators as his interlocutors, the French president stood up and told his team they were walking out. Someone frantically went looking for Medvedev, who came back from whatever it was that had taken him away from Sarkozy. Medvedev arrived to find a very angry Sarkozy. The Russian president appealed for calm, and the negotiations then continued. They finally then hammered out their accord. Sarkozy looked and sounded particularly testy at the news conference following the negotiations; all this might just explain why.

Of course I can't say that I was present to see this all with my own eyes, but so far the French government has not issued any correction or comment about the Le Figaro piece...