Marine Le Pen opposes Russian gas sanctions

Marine Le Pen, a leading candidate for the French presidency, has stated that she generally favors sanctions on Russia, with the exception of oil and gas supply.

Following her best-ever first-round performance, the far-right candidate will face off against Emmanuel Macron in a run-off election for the president.

However, in the midst of the conflict in Ukraine, she has come under fire for being perceived as being too close to Russia.

Ms. Le Pen said she supported all other sanctions.

On France Inter Radio, she said: “I don’t want French people to bear the effects of sanctions” on oil and gas.

Much of France’s natural gas is imported from Russia via pipelines, like that of many other European nations. It is used for both residential and commercial purposes.

In spite of this, Ms. Le Pen has been criticized by her competitors for her backing of Russia and Vladimir Putin in the past.

At one point in 2017, she appeared to favor the lifting of sanctions on Russia over its annexation of Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula.

She obtained a loan for her political organization from a Russian bank with suspected links to the Kremlin shortly after Russia took Crimea in 2014.

The takeover of Crimea, Ms Le Pen said, was a different circumstance from the present invasion of Ukraine, which she depicted as reflecting her greater desire for a “multi-polar” world, according to reporting from Reuters.

Despite her recent softening of her attitude on nationalist concerns and the EU exit, the majority of France’s political establishment continues to reject her.