Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on February 27, 2026
2 min readLast updated: April 2, 2026
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France says there is no proof Russia was behind a drone neutralised near the Charles de Gaulle while docked in Malmö, but warned it would amount to a “ridiculous provocation” if confirmed. Sweden’s defence leadership says the drone likely violated Swedish airspace and was seen in connection with a R
PARIS, Feb 27 (Reuters) - France's Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said on Friday Paris had no evidence that Russia was behind an unidentified drone neutralised near the Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier docked in Sweden but if that were to be the case it would be a "ridiculous provocation".
The Swedish military on Wednesday took down a drone of unknown origin detected more than 10 km from the carrier, the French army told Reuters. The carrier group is currently on a mission in the region and docked this week in the city of Malmo.
(Reporting by Gianluca Lo Nostro, John Irish in Paris, Johan Ahlander in Stockholm and Terje Solsvik in Oslo; Editing by Toby Chopra)
Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said France had no evidence Russia was behind the drone, but if a Russian link were confirmed it would be a "ridiculous provocation."
The Swedish military took down an unidentified drone detected more than 10 km from the Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier while it was docked in Malmo.
Defence Minister Pal Jonson said Swedish airspace had probably been violated by a drone "in connection with a Russian military ship" in Swedish territorial waters.
Barrot said the security of the French battleship was not threatened.
Sweden initiated countermeasures to disrupt the drone, but it was not recovered and no further observations have since been made.
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