Macron blasts claims of cocaine on train as 'disinformation'

French President Emmanuel Macron denounced claims Sunday of European leaders taking drugs together on a train to Ukraine based on a photograph of a tissue.

“When European unity becomes inconvenient, disinformation goes so far as to make a simple tissue look like drugs,” Macron’s office said in a statement, accusing France’s enemies of trying to undermine European unity.

“This fake news is being spread by France’s enemies, both abroad and at home. We must remain vigilant against manipulation,” the statement continued, without specifying the enemy countries.

The rumors arose from footage of a meeting among German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Macron, who is shown in the video removing a crumpled white tissue from the table.

Some social media users — including a Russian foreign ministry spokesperson — responded to the footage by suggesting the white object was a bag of cocaine and questioning why else the French leader would remove it from the table quickly.

The post from the French president’s office included a zoomed-in photo of the tissue, with the words “This is a tissue. For blowing your nose.” The post also included a zoomed-out version, including European leaders embracing each other on the train.

“This is European unity. To build peace,” read the words over the second photo.