RN presidential candidate Marine Le Pen called on Friday for “not to treat over the leg” the potentially “terrifying” consequences on the purchasing power of the French that the sanctions against Russia could have, at the beginning of the Russian military invasion in Ukraine. “I say pay attention to the nature of the sanctions (…). If we are the victims, it makes no sense”, underlined Marine Le Pen on BFMTV and RMC, displaying her concern for “the protection of the French on the economic plan”.
“Terrifying consequences for the purchasing power of the French”
“It is obvious that depending on the nature of the sanctions taken, there can be terrifying consequences on the purchasing power of the French, particularly in the field of energy and raw materials”, she added. “We must not treat this overhand. The French are extremely weakened today due to the collapse of their purchasing power and the rise in energy prices. If we do not take into account this situation, we will end up with prices that will double, or even worse”, she warned.
Marine Le Pen again condemned “unambiguously the violation of the integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine” by Russia and called for “trying to find ways of a diplomatic resolution of this crisis”. “Clearly Russia has crossed the red line (…) What Vladimir Putin has done is eminently reprehensible, it partly changes the vision that can have of him”, assured the candidate RN who is, like the other candidate far-right Eric Zemmour and LFI candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon, on the defensive for positions deemed pro-Russian, more difficult to assume in times of war.
It’s up to the West to “find the solutions”
She had been received by Vladimir Putin during the 2017 presidential campaign, and in 2014 the RN had resorted to a Russian loan of nine million euros, which he is still repaying. Asked whether, like British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, she would qualify Vladimir Putin as a “dictator”, she spoke of “authoritarian regime, historically”, remarking that “we judge with our standards which are Western standards”.
Is he a “killer” as US President Joe Biden said? “All these adjectives will not solve the situation. Russia is a great power, a great nuclear power, and it is on our continent, so it is up to us to find the solutions to live with,” argued Marine Le Pen. . She considered that it is “of course” to welcome, “under the aegis of the High Commissioner for Refugees” of the United Nations, Ukrainian refugees who would like to come to France, because “we must respect the Geneva Convention”.