French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said on Friday that dialogue with Russia should be kept, but sanctions should not be lifted in order to keep up the pressure on Russia
PARIS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 18th June, 2021) French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said on Friday that dialogue with Russia should be kept, but sanctions should not be lifted in order to keep up the pressure on Russia.
Le Drian disagreed with the presenter at the French BFMTV broadcaster, who suggested that sanctions against Russian people and business entities were ineffective.
"Anyway, the sanctions policy should go on to keep pressure on Russia", Le Drian said, adding that France still had to "maintain the dialog with Russia, as Russia is and will stay in Europe, it won't move anywhere."
He also noted that the issue of sanctions appears in all discussions between France and Russia.
In late May, President Macron said policy of sanctions against Russia was no longer effective.
The European Union has imposed and repeatedly extended sanctions against Russia over its alleged involvement in the conflict in the east of Ukraine and the reunification of Crimea with Russia. Russia has responded with its own counter-sanctions.
