Sawt Falasteen - Russia denounces brief detention of government employee in France

The foreign ministry employee, whom Russia did not name, arrived in France on Sunday as part of an official delegation, Moscow said.

It said French border police confiscated her phone and computer and kept her waiting at the airport for hours, despite her having been issued a French visa.

She was later released and her equipment returned.

France-Russia ties have sunk in recent months as Moscow critices Europe -- French President Emmanuel Macron in particular -- for supporting Ukraine.

"What happened on April 6 at Charles de Gaulle airport has no explanation," Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said during a weekly press briefing.

"The Russian embassy immediately sent a consular officer to the airport. Our diplomat had to wait almost seven hours for access to their colleague, who had arrived in France as part of an official delegation," she added.

"We do not intend to leave this without consequences," she said.

The French foreign ministry told AFP it discussed the issue with Russia on Tuesday.

"The person concerned was able to benefit from consular protection, in accordance with the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations," the ministry spokesperson said.

- 'Totally unacceptable' -

The Kremlin called the detention "totally unacceptable" and said it would "further aggravate" ties with Paris.

Russia said it had sent a note of protest to the French foreign ministry and summoned the French ambassador in Moscow.

Russia and France have each expelled dozens of diplomats since Moscow's Ukraine offensive began more than three years ago.

The Kremlin has recently redirected much of its anger over the Ukraine conflict towards Europe and away from the United States, which is seeking improved ties.

France has been a staunch backer of Ukraine and floated the idea of deploying peacekeepers there as part of a future peace settlement, a proposal Russia has called "unacceptable" and that would threaten direct conflict between Russia and members of NATO.

Macron on Monday accused Russia of "stalling tactics" after it rejected a joint US-Ukrainian proposal for a ceasefire and set conditions for a truce in the Black Sea.

Moscow currently holds French researcher Laurent Vinatier, who works for a Swiss conflict mediation NGO, in jail on what Paris says are "arbitrary" charges.

J.AbuHassan--SF-PST