Guest of Franceinfo this Tuesday morning, Bruno Le Maire insisted on the scope of the economic and financial sanctions against Russia following the invasion of Ukraine.
“We are going to cause the collapse of the Russian economy (...) We will go all the way.
We want to target Vladimir Putin, but the Russian people will suffer too.
We cannot do otherwise,”
said Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire on Tuesday.
Read alsoWar in Ukraine: sanctions cause a major financial shock in Moscow
According to him, these sanctions are
“tremendously effective.
(…) We can already see the effects
(of the sanctions)
, the ruble has lost 30%, Russian reserves are melting like snow in the sun, rising inflation, Russians queuing in front of the banks”.
“The economic and financial balance of power is totally in favor of the European Union, which is in the process of discovering its economic power. (…) The United States and Europe together are the most powerful economic and financial continent on the planet and have considerable power of action”
, warned the Minister.
Future measures against the oligarchs present in France
As such, France intends to strike the Russian oligarchs present on its territory, whose number Bruno Le Maire still does not know.
“I have set up a
task force
to identify all the Russian oligarchs, their property, their assets which are in France, on behalf of the oligarchs, their spouses, their children, their real estate civil companies.
So that they cannot hide behind financial arrangements.
We are working legally with the chancellery so that the freeze becomes a seizure, we are going to touch the heart of Russian power (…) No oligarch will slip through the meshes of our nets, that is our objective, ”
promises Bruno Le Mayor.
The minister also mentioned a possible strengthening of sanctions against Russia
"if necessary"
, jointly with the American government, while acknowledging that these sanctions will have consequences on the French economy and in particular energy prices.
"The French are aware that freedom has a price
," insisted Bruno Le Maire.
Read alsoBruno Le Maire welcomes the German “wise decision” to suspend the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline
Asked about the continuation of the activities of the Engie and TotalEnergies groups in Russia, Bruno Le Maire now considers that there is
“a problem of principle in working with any personality close to Russian power.
We will discuss it with the CEO of TotalEnergies Patrick Pouyanné, the general manager of Engie Catherine MacGregor.
We will make decisions together in the days to come.
