Russia donates ‘diplomatic’ Christmas tree to Notre Dame

The huge Christmas tree outside Notre Dame cathedral in Paris this year has been given by Russia, highlighting the role of religious contacts in its diplomacy.

The surprise gift came after the cathedral appealed to foreign embassies for the first time to fund the holiday spectacle. Notre Dame rector Mgr Patrick Jacquin said that the cost of the tree had doubled this year to €80,000 (£63,242), too much for the cathedral funds. Mgr Jacquin discounted political motives for the gift. Russian-French ties are strained due to economic sanctions over Ukraine. France has delayed the delivery of two helicopter carrier ships that Moscow ordered four years ago. “There’s always a risk of being used,” Mgr Jacquin told Le Monde.

Russian officials made no secret of the diplomatic context. “We wanted to show by this gesture that, despite efforts to isolate Russia, the friendship between our two countries is so strong and deep that no political game can destroy it,” Russian Ambassador Alexander Orlov said on Saturday.

Igor Tkach, an envoy of the Moscow city government that donated the 25-metre high tree, called it “a marvellous symbol of the unity, brotherhood and mutual understanding between Christian peoples”. He said the Russian Orthodox Church also approved of the gift. Russian media gave wide coverage to the tree’s unveiling, almost ignored in France, presenting it as a sign of France’s economic woes.