Divert from French region (7)
I believe the answer is:
detract
'divert' is the definition.
(detracting is a kind of diverting)
'from french region' is the wordplay.
'from french' becomes 'de' ('from' in French).
'region' becomes 'tract' (both can mean a large piece of land).
'de'+'tract'='DETRACT'
(Other definitions for detract that I've seen before include "Take away a part of, lower in value" , "Derogate" , "Devaluate" , "Reduce value" , "Belittle" .)