“There can be no naivety, arrogance or complacency in dealing with Russia”, said Yannick Jadot, environmental candidate for the presidential election, Thursday March 24 on franceinfo. If he is elected president, he assured that he would cut off the Russian gas tap and that he would go to see Vladimir Putin, while specifying “that we are not obliged to shake his hand and above all, not as Emmanuel Macron does, to address him as familiarity”.
“We do not meet Vladimir Poutine in Brégançon, we meet him in a European context with the other European leaders. This is always how the balance of power is built.”
Yannick Jadotat franceinfo
The environmental candidate was referring to a visit by the Russian head of state in August 2019. Yannick Jadot for his part promised that he “would play as a team” with the European Union, “in unity and firmness”that “we should have done from the beginning”.
“Let’s be clear, my project is only peace, but to impose peace today, you need a balance of power vis-à-vis Vladimir Putin”estimated Yannick Jadot, convinced that this must go through an embargo on Russian gas and oil. “Today, Russian gas and oil are 700 million dollars that come every day to fuel the war that Russia is waging in Ukraine”he specified, estimating that this must currently represent “17 to 18 billion dollars”that is “half of the revenue of the Russian state budget”. “Peace is not about making big speeches, peace is about building the balance of power to put an end to these atrocities”, insists Yannick Jadot.
“If we stop our imports, we put ourselves in a position to obtain peace.”
Yannick Jadotat franceinfo
Yannick Jadot however acknowledged that this would have consequences for the French and Europeans. He therefore suggested having “a single European buyer” to provide energy and not put European countries in competition with each other, “suspend the European directives on the liberalization of energy prices to regulate energy prices again”of “prioritize all renovation work on public buildings and private housing” to save energy, in particular by installing photovoltaic panels whenever possible. “It’s good for purchasing power. It’s good for reducing our gas consumption and it’s good for the climate”said Yannick Jadot.