[Tommyjo]

This is a Newsmax article. Is Russia sending Putin? No. All people see is a distorted headline and immediately go into French bashing mode. The French, like the Russians and many more nations, are sending representatives. Those representatives do not need to be current heads of state.

[Carolinamom]

Will France send a representative in lieu of Chirac?

[TheSpottedOwl]

Okay, technically you're right. We'll see if France sends anybody, period. After their refusal to let us use their airspace years ago, we should have just washed our hands of them.

[PigRigger]

"The French, like the Russians and many more nations, are sending representatives. Those representatives do not need to be current heads of state..."

Correct; I apologize and retract my earlier comment about Chirac having a bug up his arse. It was undignified and not called for given the current news.