Paris: Telegram Founder Denies Travel Request

French authorities have rejected claims that Pavel Durov, the founder of Telegram, requested to travel to the United States for a meeting with an investment fund, according to prosecutors on Thursday.

Durov, 40, was previously detained in Paris in 2024 and is currently under investigation for illegal content related to his messaging platform.

In March, he was allowed to leave France and head to Dubai, which serves as the headquarters for his company.

The Paris prosecutor’s office, in conjunction with the Office for the Battle of Organized Crime (Junalco), stated that Durov had “requested permission to travel to the United States to negotiate with the investment fund for his company’s Telegram.” This decision was made on May 12.

The prosecutor’s office remarked, “This kind of overseas trip did not appear to be urgent or justified.”

Sources familiar with the situation indicated that Durov sought to travel to the U.S. to meet with senior engineers.

Since his arrest, Durov has implemented measures that seem to align with Paris’s demands for stronger action against illegal content on his platform.

However, he also publicly criticized the head of France’s DGSE foreign intelligence agency prior to last weekend’s elections.

The DGSE has denied these accusations.

In related news, Romanian nationalist candidate George Simion, who lost to Bucharest’s central mayor, is now appealing to his country’s constitutional court to invalidate the vote, citing alleged foreign interference, including from France.

Durov shared Simion’s message on X, stating he is “ready to testify whether it will help Romanian democracy.”

Durov’s legal team did not provide immediate comments when approached for further information.