France's row with US ambassador Charles Kushner heats up after meeting no-show charles kushner summoned

France has restricted the diplomatic access of the US ambassador after charles kushner failed to attend a 7pm meeting on Monday to explain US comments about the death of a far-right activist. The foreign ministry says the envoy must make a direct explanation before he is allowed to resume normal ministerial access.

Charles Kushner misses summons

Charles Kushner, who is the father of Jared Kushner and whose son Jared is married to the US president’s daughter Ivanka, did not attend a meeting at the foreign ministry on Monday at 7pm to which he had been summoned. The ministry had asked the ambassador to explain the reposting by the US embassy in Paris of state department comments about the killing of a far-right activist.

French ministry blocks access

The ministry said on Monday night it had requested that the US ambassador be denied direct access to French government ministers, while continuing to allow him to speak with foreign ministry officials. Jean-Noël Barrot, the French foreign minister, said the envoy "needs to be able to have this discussion with us, with [the foreign ministry], so that he can resume the normal exercise of his duties as ambassador in France. " Barrot described the no-show as a "surprise" and said the incident "will, naturally, affect his capacity to exercise his mission in our country. "

Comments on Quentin Deranque case

The diplomatic row began after the US state department’s Bureau of Counterterrorism and the US embassy in Paris posted comments on social media about the death of Quentin Deranque. The bureau said it was monitoring the case and warned that "violent radical leftism" was on the rise and should be treated as a public safety threat. One posted line in the context was left incomplete in the provided context; unclear in the provided context.

Death, charges and public reaction

Quentin Deranque was described variously in the material as a far-right activist and a 23-year-old maths student. He was beaten during clashes between radical left and far-right supporters on the sidelines of a protest in Lyon on 12 February and died from head injuries after being taken to hospital on 14 February. Six men suspected of involvement in Deranque’s death have been charged over the killing, and a parliamentary assistant to an MP from the France Unbowed (LFI) party has been charged with complicity. Some 3, 000 people joined a march in memory of Deranque on Saturday.

Political and diplomatic reactions

Barrot said that "we do not accept that foreign countries can come and interfere in, then insert themselves into, our national political debate, whatever the circumstances. " He also said the matter would "in no way affect the relationship between France and the United States, " adding that the relationship had "weathered other storms" but that the incident would "naturally affect [Kushner's] ability to carry out his mission in our country. " The minister said the conversation "needs to be had" and that Paris also wanted to raise US sanctions against European figures such as the French former European commissioner Thierry Breton, who have been barred from the US.

Kushner’s background and past no-shows

Diplomatic sources told French media that Kushner, a real-estate magnate with an estimated net worth of $3. 2bn (£2. 4bn), cited personal commitments as his reason for not attending the Monday meeting and instead sent a senior embassy official. The no-show on Monday was the envoy’s second since his appointment to the Paris embassy last May; he also failed to attend a summons in August, when French officials met a representative after he sent one following an open letter to Emmanuel Macron criticising what he described as a "dramatic rise of antisemitism in France. " The 71-year-old businessman was controversially named US ambassador to France by Donald Trump last year and was pardoned in 2020 by Donald Trump after pleading guilty to tax evasion and making illegal campaign donations years earlier.

Responses from French political figures

The material records that ministers from France’s centre-right government blamed the Lyon attack on "far-left" militants. LFI leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon said his party had "nothing to do with this story" and condemned "all forms of violence, " adding: "We express our consternation, but also our empathy and compassion for [Deranque's] family and friends. " The material also notes that an approach was made to the US embassy in France for comment.

For now, the French foreign ministry has set a clear condition: the ambassador must explain his refusal to comply with the ministry summons before normal ministerial access is restored.