French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian on March 1, 2022 in Lodz, Poland (AFP/Archives/Alik KEPLICZ)
The head of French diplomacy, Jean-Yves Le Drian, spoke on Sunday with his Saudi and Emirati counterparts about diversifying European energy supplies in order to reduce their dependence on Russia.
“He stressed the need for strong international mobilization to increase pressure on Russia in order to put an end to the offensive in Ukraine,” said the spokesperson for French diplomacy.
He also underlined “the importance of continuing the work undertaken with a view to diversifying European energy supplies”, added Anne-Claire Legendre.
Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest oil producer, and the Emirates, also among the world’s biggest crude exporters, have so far avoided taking a stand against Russia.
The Europeans are asking the Gulf countries to increase their oil production to curb the surge in crude prices caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine and to reduce the share of Russian oil on the world market.
The European Union (EU), dependent on Russian hydrocarbons, is also organizing to reduce by two thirds this year its gas purchases in Moscow.
The head of French diplomacy will visit Qatar next week, which is one of the world’s top three exporters of liquefied natural gas (LNG).
During his exchange with the Saudi Fayçal ben Farhane, Jean-Yves Le Drian recalled the “firm condemnation” by Paris of the attacks carried out by the Houthis on Saudi territory and brought his “support to the initiatives” with a view to a political solution to the Yemeni conflict.
This conflict has pitted pro-government forces, supported by an international coalition led by Riyadh, against Houthi rebels, supported by Iran, for more than seven years.
The head of French diplomacy also warned his Emirati counterpart, Sheikh Abdallah ben Zayed Al Nahyan, that “unrequited rehabilitation of the Syrian regime will not bring stability either to Syria or to the region”.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad made his first visit to an Arab country on March 18 to the Emirates since the start of the conflict in 2011 that devastated his country.
The French Foreign Minister also once again insisted on “the need for a return as soon as possible” to the Iranian nuclear agreement.
The United States and Iran are in the final stages of indirect talks aimed at reviving the 2015 pact supposed to prevent Tehran from acquiring the atomic bomb, in exchange for the lifting of sanctions which are suffocating the Iranian economy. The EU estimated on Saturday that the conclusion of an agreement was a “matter of days”.
© 2022 AFP
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