France–Russia relations

France–Russia relations, also known as Franco-Russian relations or Russo-French relations (French: Relations entre la France et la Russie, Russian: Российско-французские отношения, Rossiysko-frantsuzskiye otnosheniya), have seldom been friendly.

In the 18th century Russia imported French intellectuals, most of whom were negative about the little-known land. During the Napoleonic era (1799–1815), both nations wanted to dominate Central and Eastern Europe. Napoleon launched a massive invasion of Russia in 1812, but its failure led to his defeat and Russian dominance in Eastern Europe. Russia also wanted to dominate the Ottoman Empire, but France and Britain fought and won the Crimean War (1854–1856) to prevent that. In the 1890s France was diplomatically isolated and built an alliance with Russia. Together with Britain, they went to war with Germany in 1914–1918. After gaining control in the Russian Revolution of 1917, the Bolsheviks signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with the Central Powers in 1918. In the 1930s, France could not forge an alliance against a resurgent Nazi Germany. The Soviet Union and the United States were the remaining superpowers after 1945, but they faced off in a long Cold War (1947–1989). France supported the United States in the NATO alliance against Communist expansion. Since 1989 relations have been proper but not warm, with several issues marring relations such as the War in Donbas (which evolved into the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine) and Russia's increasing involvement in West Africa.

According to a 2017 Pew Global Attitudes Project survey, 36% of French people had a favourable view of Russia and 62% an unfavourable view. A 2018 opinion poll published by the Russian Public Opinion Research Center showed that 81% of Russians had a favourable view of France and 19% an unfavourable view.