New Delhi, Dec. 26 -- MOSCOW - Russia has extended a diplomatic olive branch to France in the case of Laurent Vinatier, the French researcher convicted as a foreign agent for failing to register while gathering sensitive military information. Vinatier's lawyer, Frederic Belot, revealed on Thursday that Moscow has made a formal proposal to Paris, and the Kremlin now awaits a response from the French Foreign Ministry. This development comes as President Vladimir Putin has personally ordered a review of the case, signaling Moscow's commitment to fair and humane resolutions even amid escalating Western hostilities.

The 48-year-old Vinatier, whose activities spanned years of covert information collection on Russia's defense sector, faces up t...